REGIONALISM ON THE CELTIC FRINGE: HOW A PERIPHERAL COMMUNITY RESISTS, NEGOTIATES, AND ACCOMMODATES POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC INTEGRATION by GLENN GRAHAM Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia February 2016 © Copyright by Glenn Graham, 2016 DEDICATION PAGE For Claire and Alec and in memory of Dr. Richard Twomey. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................. ix ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED ................................................................................. xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ xiv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 1.2 Thesis Questions and Research Objectives ................................................................. 7 1.3 The Case ......................................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Chapter Organization ................................................................................................... 11 1.5 Methodology ................................................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW ..... 21 2.1 Regions and Regionalism .............................................................................................. 21 2.2 Regional Identity and Regionality ............................................................................... 24 2.3 ‘Old’ Regionalism, Globalization, and the New Regionalism ................................... 29 ‘Old’ Regionalism ............................................................................................. 29 Globalization ..................................................................................................... 29 New Regionalism Theory (NRT) ...................................................................... 32 2.4 New Institutionalism .................................................................................................... 34 The ‘Problem’ of Institutional Change .............................................................. 42 2.5 Other Pertinent Literature ........................................................................................... 46 Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 50 iii CHAPTER 3: CAPE BRETON AS A REGION BEFORE CANADA: UNAMA’KI, ISLE ROYALE, AND DIASPORIC SANCTUARY FOR THE SCOTTISH GAEL .............................................................................................................. 56 3.1 Culture and Identity ...................................................................................................... 59 Making a Living and Maintaining Culture ........................................................ 62 3.2 Institutions and Policy ................................................................................................... 64 Cape Breton: A Stateless Nested Region .......................................................... 68 Other Institutions ............................................................................................... 69 Traditionalism: Parties and Patronage ............................................................... 72 3.3 Political Leadership ....................................................................................................... 74 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 78 CHAPTER 4: THE BECOMING OF INDUSTRIAL CAPE BRETON: ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION ............................. 86 4.1 Coal, Steel, and the Rise of Industrial Cape Breton ................................................... 87 4.2 Political Institutions and Policy .................................................................................... 89 Institutionalization and Regionalization of Mi’kmaw Politics ...................... 92 Gaelic and Discrimination in an Anglicizing World ..................................... 95 4.3 Other Institutions .......................................................................................................... 98 The Labour Movement ...................................................................................... 101 4.4 Identity and Culture ...................................................................................................... 105 4.5 Political Leadership ....................................................................................................... 108 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 115 CHAPTER 5: CAPE BRETON AS ‘SOCIALIST ISLAND’: INDUSTRIAL DECLINE AND THE DEVELOPMENTAL STATE ..................................................... 124 5.1 Culture and Identity ...................................................................................................... 125 5.2 Political Institutions and Policy .................................................................................... 129 Government Takeover of the Coal and Steel Industry ...................................... 131 ECB, ECBC, ACOA, and the New Economic Interface ................................... 136 The Provincial State and Regional Development .............................................. 141 iv Municipal Consolidation and Regional Development ...................................... 145 The Strait Area: Failed Growth Pole? ............................................................... 147 5.3 Community Economic Development (CED) ............................................................... 150 5.4 Political Leadership ....................................................................................................... 153 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 158 CHAPTER 6: CAPE BRETON IN THE ERA OF GLOBALIZATION: REGIONALIZATION OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS .................. 169 6.1 Political Leadership ....................................................................................................... 171 Towards Reform and Austerity ......................................................................... 174 6.2 Regionalization Through Municipal Amalgamation ................................................. 175 Assessing the Amalgamation ............................................................................ 178 After the Merger: Rescaling and ‘Rebooting’ for Region-Building ................. 180 6.3 Regionalization of Health Care .................................................................................... 182 The McNeil Government’s Healthcare Policy: Back to the Future? ................. 191 6.4 Regionalization of Education ........................................................................................ 193 Further Amalgamation of Schools and Boards ................................................. 195 School Amalgamation and Community Resistance .......................................... 198 Rescaling and Regionalizing Mi’kmaw Education ........................................... 201 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 202 CHAPTER 7: POST-INDUSTRIAL CAPE BRETON: A RE-ENVISIONED DEVELOPMENT REGIME ............................................................................................. 209 7.1 Federal and Provincial Institutions ............................................................................. 211 ECBC Matures ................................................................................................... 212 ECBC Disbanded ............................................................................................... 221 CBDCs ............................................................................................................... 225 7.2 Other Institutions .......................................................................................................... 227 Rescaling and Reterritorializing: RDAs to RENs ............................................. 227 The Cape Breton Partnership and the Prosperity Framework ........................... 230 Private Sector Leadership .................................................................................. 233 v Bottom-up Agency: CED and Entrepreneurship ............................................... 233 7.3 Political Leadership and Post-industrial Rescaling .................................................... 235 CBRM: Equalization, Rescaling, and Empowerment ....................................... 239 Rural Municipalities and Regional Development ............................................. 247 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 250 CHAPTER 8: GLOBALIZING THE “CELTIC FRINGE”: REBUILDING CAPE BRETON WITH CULTURE AND THE ARTS