THE BRITISH COLUMBIA RAILWAY AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT by ELLSWORTH PAUL GAMBLE B.A., University of Washington, 1969 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the School of Community and Regional Planning We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April, 1972 In presenting t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t of the requirements f o r an advanced degree at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree that the L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r reference and study. I f u r t h e r agree that permission f o r extensive copying of t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s understood that copying or p u b l i c a t i o n of t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l gain s h a l l not be allowed without my w r i t t e n permission. Department of Community and Regional Planning The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Date A p r i l 2 8 f 1972 ii. ' ABSTRACT This thesis considers the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, the British Columbia Railway as of April 1, 1972, a Provincial Crown corpor-ation, and the implications of its extensions upon regional development. The indicators of regional development studied are population and indust-rial profiles. The time framework of the thesis is from 1952 to 1972, the period of the P.G.E. extensions. Two perspectives of the implications for regional development are examined. Chapter Two treats with the Provincial Government agencies whose policies have had the most effect in the study area. The financing, safety, and freight rate implications of the P.G.E. are discussed. In addition, general policies and inter-relationships with the P.G.E. of the following Provincial agencies are considered: B.C. Hydro, the Department of Highways, and the Forest Service. The third through sixth chapters consider the regional development of four regions: Squamish-Cariboo, Prince George, Peace River-Liard, and Omineca-Stikine. These regions, in turn, are broken into areas—usually to correspond with a central P-.G.E. railway station and its commodity car- ' loadings. The development within each area is studied in respect to pop-ulation changes and industrial expansion since 1951. The P.G.E. commodity carloadings from 1966 through 1970 are used as indicators of regional development. The fluctuations of the carloadings of certain commodities, such as woodchips, lumber and veneer,^ merchandise,.^ and machinery and parts, have been used to show the level of regional indust-rial development. Alone, the P.G.E. commodity carloadings are of little use. How-ever, they take on more meaning in light of the policies of the Provincial Government agencies. The usefulness of the data takes a quantum leap when individual shippers indicate how"much they ship, its routing, and its final destination. A limited attempt at this later refinement is provided by the respon-ses of about fifty company and government officials to a single page, open-ended question letter. Most of these responses are in letter form although those companies with offices in Vancouver are interviews. A limitation of the technique used in this thesis to determine regional development is the inability to estimate the importance of the ser-vice sector. The obvious weight is given to the resource extraction and ii'i manufacturing sectors since these are the sectors which generate railway carloadings. Only when there is a significant population and the total carloadings are relatively low, are there suspicions of a large service sector or the possibility of significant truck shipments. The general conclusion to this thesis is that the Pacific Great Eastern Railway has stimulated regional development in the areas it serves directly. However, this development has been primarily in the forest products industry, in conjunction with Forest Service policies and tech-nological improvements. The development of this industry has then provided a stimulus for maintenance and repair services and a more stable population base, which has helped to establish a need for improved highways. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT i i LIST OF TABLES ". v i LIST OF FIGURES v i PREFACE •. v i i Chapter ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 TWO: THE PROVINCE 13 Financing ..." 14 Freight Rates 19 Service 21 Safety 24 BlC. Hydro 25 Provincial Department of Highways 27 Provincial Forest Service 29 THREE: SQUAMISH - CARIBOO ~~37 Squamish 39 Pemberton 42 Lillooet 43 South Cariboo 45 Williams Lake 46 Quesnel 48 FOUR: PRINCE GEORGE 53 FIVE: PEACE RIVER-LIARD 62 Mackenzie 65 Chetwynd 67 Dawson Creek '. 68 Fort St. John - Taylor 71 Fort Nelson ; 75 SIX: OMINECA-STIKINE 79 SEVEN: CONCLUSIONS ' 89 V Page BIBLIOGRAPHY AND APPENDICES I-IV 101 BIBLIOGRAPHY 102 APPENDIX I: LETTER & INTERVIEW RESPONDEES 105 APPENDIX I I : LEASE - HOLDERS ON P.G.E. INDUSTRIAL PROPERTIES 108 APPENDIX.Ill: MAJOR COMPONENTS OF PGE FREIGHT IN THOUSANDS OF TONS, ANNUAL, 1951-1970 113 APPENDIX IV: CONSIDERATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 119 v i ; LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Quadrennial R a i l Revenues by Company i n $ M i l l i o n s and % of Annual T o t a l 5 2. L i a b i l i t i e s , C a p i t a l and Retained Income . 16 3. Ex h i b i t "B" 18 4. R o l l i n g Stock, 1970 - 1971 21 . 5. Commodity Carloadings at Squamish, 1966, 1968 - 1970 40 6.. Commodity Carloadings at Pemberton, 1966, 1968 - 1970 ..... 43 7. Commodity Carloadings at L i l l o o e t , 1966, 1968 - 1970 44 8. Commodity Carloadings at 100 Mile House, 1966, 1968 - 1970. 45 9. Commodity Carloadings at Williams Lake, 1966, 1968 - 1970.. 47 10. Commodity Carloadings at Quesnel, 1966, 1968 - 1970 49 11. Commodity Carloadings at Prince George, South, 1966, 1968-1970 : 56 12. Commodity Carloadings at Prince George, North, 1966, 1968-1970 57 13. Commodity Carloadings at Kennedy, 1966, 1968 - 1970 66 14. Commodity Carloadings at Chetwynd, 1966, 1968 - 1970 68 15. Commodity Carloadings at Dawson Creek, 1966, 1968 - 1970 .. 70 16. Commodity Carloadings- at Fort St. John, 1966, 1968 - 1970 . 73 17. Commodity Carloadings at Fort St. James, 1968 - 1970 85 LIST OF FIGURES Figure I'Page 1. % Sign of B.C. R a i l Tonnage Loaded by PGE, Annual 1951 - 1970 3 2. M i l l i o n s of Tons Originated by PGE, Annual 1951 - 1970 4 3. Annual PGE Tonnage Originated by Commodity, 1951 --1970 ... 30 Map Status of Sustained r? Y i e l d Forestry Programme as of December, 1971 32 v i i PREFACE On April 1, 1972, the Pacific Great Eastern Railway was o f f i c i a l l y renamed the British Columbia Railway. The information I have provided in the ensuing pages i s labelled "Pacific Great Eastern" (PGE) to avoid con-fusion as almost the entire time frame for this thesis i s prior to the change of name. There are some obvious data failures in this thesis. I am not satis-fied with the quality of the his t o r i c a l employment s t a t i s t i c s . I found the generalised categories used by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics (Statistics Canada) to be of l i t t l e direct application to this thesis. This was due to the lack of correlation to industries or companies and the availability of these stat i s t i c s only for larger incorporated places. In addition, B.B.S. population-related statistics are based upon a r t i f i c i a l l y defined census div-isions, which made data breakdowns difficult-. Industrial Expansion in British Columbia by Census Divisions could be a very useful publication. Currently, i t i s compiled by the Economics and Statistics Branch of the Provincial Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce. Its present limitation arises from the fact that i t i s a survey. Therefore, i t does not embrace a l l industrial expansion, although this data is improving markedly with time. The PGE carloadings are helpful, provided that the person using them realises that they are only freight originating, and within about a 25 mile circumference of the station, identified. It would have been much better i f car-unloading data was available. The reason for the carloading data begin-ning only in 1966 i s simply because the PGE did not collect this data u n t i l then. Owing to the limitations inherent in thesis at the Master's level, i t was not possible for me to visit, the various regions to study their economic geography in person or to interview individuals outside the metropolitan Vancouver area. In order to get a better feel for the subject, I sent out about 150 letters $0 industrial managers and presidents, elected o f f i c i a l s , and planners. I made no attempt to make this a representative sample of any industry. The letter was very general as I had few preconceived notions about how people related to the PGE. The quality of the responses of those people who bothered to answer the letter was overwhelming. Ideas and personal opinions came forth on subjects a l l i e d to the PGE that I did not realise existed. It i s impossible for me to single out any particular respondants as v i i i each, i n h i s way and with his p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t s , helped me. A l l I can do i s to thank those who d i d respond. The following t h e s i s was conceptualized with Prof. Gordon Stead's assistance i n September, 1971. At that time, I hardly r e a l i s e d the vast-ness of the subject. I f I were to,do i t a l l over again, I would l i m i t myself to one of the economic areas, instead of the four. Appendix IV i s a l e t t e r from Martin von Riedemann of the Cariboo Cattlemen's Association. Anyone wishing to examine further the i n t e r - r e l a t i o n s h i p s between t h i s r a i l -way, the P r o v i n c i a l Government, and regional development should be prepared to take interviews i n the area selected. I had too.1? much area to cover. However, Mr. v. Riedemann's l e t t e r gives the person interested i n the Cariboo an adequate set of people f o r i n i t i a l contacts. John Dawson of B.C. Hydro helped me to further c r y s t a l l i s e my ideas of the P r o v i n c i a l Government and the PGE interworkings. Our conversations were, e s p e c i a l l y h e l p f u l towards my thought development concerning the PGE. His copy of an economic study he had performed about the Peace River region was very u s e f u l and informative. WalteryYoung was my p r i n c i p a l contact within the PGE. He was quite cooperative. He provided up-to-date s t a t i s t i c s and the previously u n a v a i l -able carloading-data. Unfortunately, PGE company p o l i c y forbade h i s l e t t i n g me see the "Blue Book" or r e g i o n a l studies which attempted to analyse the l o c a l economic impact of the PGE. Apparently, only a couple of copies of t h i s report e x i s t . While the PGE "denies the existence of t h i s report, the Economics and S t a t i s t i c s Branch acknowledges i t s existence as they claim to have written i t . Most of the c r e d i t f o r putting t h i s t h e s i s into understandable English and recognisable l o g i c i s reserved f o r Prof. Gordon Stead, my f i r s t reader, and Dr. K a r l Ruppenthal. Both have been e s p e c i a l l y understanding and l i b e r a l with t h e i r time f o r my problems. Dr. Ruppenthal w i l l receive no o f f i c i a l r ecognition f o r h i s contributions to my e f f o r t s as he i s not on my thesis committee. He must be s a t i s f i e d with my most sincere thanks. While Prof. Stead, being my f i r s t reader, was expected to perform, I believe he went f a r beyond the usual. He returned my draf t s promptly and with v a l i d comments. He took the time and e f f o r t to labouriously s i f t through my o f t times too f r a g i l e l o g i c . Without hi s c a r e f u l scrutiny, the pages concer-ning the PGE financing would have been r i d d l e d with blunders. I o f f e r my thanks to Prof. Stead f o r a l l the trouble he has gone to for.me. ix Lastly, only because she was the last person to be involved with this thesis, I express my thanks to Maureen Boyle, who did the typing. Without her conscientious care to her profession and to a very demanding task, this thesis would have been something less than what it is. April 28, 1972 E. Paul Gamble -2-The Pacific Great Eastern Railway was incorporated under the British Columbia Charter i n 1912 to construct and operate a railway between Burrard Inlet via Howe Sound to a junction with the Grand Trunk Pacific at Prince George. The construction was to begin in 1912 and to be completed in 1915. The bulk of the capital for construction was obtained through provincially guaranteed bonds sold to British citizens and to the Great Eastern Railway of Great Britain from which the PGE derived i t s name. The capital stock was held by the men who agreed to build the railroad: Timtsthy Foley, Patrick Welch, and John W. Stewart. . By 1914, the PGE had la i d track from North Vancouver to Howe Sound and from Squamish to Clinton. Construction then stopped. For the next four years excuses of bad weather, high labour costs, and a poor bond market due to the war in Europe were offered. By 1918, the Provincial Government had made several payments on the interest outstanding. That year, amid accusations of fraud, graft, and contract deceit, the capital stock and company assets were turned over, to the Province. The Pacific Great Eastern Railway became a Provincial Crown corporation. Strapped with the debt of the previous ownership, the PGE borrowed more. In 1921, the railway completed construction from Squamish to Ques-nel. The route traveled through Pemberton, Lillooet, Clinton and Williams Lake. The original plans to extend the line into Prince George and North Vancouver were temporarily postponed due to the combination of high con-struction costs and an almost depleted Provincial treasury. "Eventually the r a i l s north of Quesnel were taken up and sold as scrap to Japan and part of the roadway became the highway to Prince George."^ Squamish and North Vancouver were connected by a train-barge system for freight which was operated by the PGE. In addition, passenger service between these two points was provided by the Union Steamship Company by special arrangement with the PGE. The main line extended approximately 350 miles. The Pacific Great Eastern Railway' had a poor record of completing :' it s construction goals prior to 1952. Plans existed"for future extensions to Prince George and beyond into the Peace River Block as early as 1918. The PGE became the object of nicknames. "Please Go Easy", "Politician's Ghastly Error", "Puff, Grunt, and Expire", and "Past God's Endurance" a l l refer to the unkept promises and financial dilemma of the company. In 1949 an extension from Quesnel "to Prince George (a distance of 80 miles) was begun. This extension was completed in 1953, the year after W.A.C. Bennett became Premier of British Columbia. Since 1953, the r a i l --3-way's expansion has been extensive. Three years later the PGE was extended from Squamish into North Vancouver and from Prince George into Chetwynd (formerly Little Prairie). Further penetration of the Peace River Block was achieved by 1958 with track laid to Fort St. John and Dawson Creek to increase the main line track to 793 miles. Ih 1966 a 23 mile spur was laid from Kennedy, 100 miles north of Prince George, to the new town of Mackenzie on the banks of the artificial lake formed behind the W.A.C. Bennett Dam. A 75 mile track extension connec-ting Fort St. James with the main line at Odell, north of Prince George, was completed in 1968. Late in 1971 the main line was extended 250 miles from Fort St. John to Fort Nelson. Work is now well under way on the extension of the line, once terminating at Fort St. James, to Dease Lake. As of January, 1972, track had been laid to Leo Creek, about 80 miles beyond Fort St. James. At the end of September, 1971 the Dease Lake extension was the only new construction on the main line. At year's end 1971 the PGE was the third longest railway in Canada. It achieved this position as a result of an expansion rail line development policy since 1952. From the original 350 miles of track between Squamish in the south and Quesnel in the north, the PGE has expanded to more than 1200 miles of main line track. With the completion of the Dease Lake extension, expected in 1974, the main line will have 1531 miles of track. Figure 1 indicates the percentage of the total annual rail tonnage in British Columbia loaded by the Pacific Great Eastern Railway since 1950. Another dimension is offered in Figure 2 which indicates the effect that the expansion has had on the annual tonnage carried by the PGE. FIGURE 1: • % OF B.C. RAIL TONNAGE LOADED. BY PGE, ANNUAL 1951 - 1970 Source: DBS, 52-205 '64 '66 Yet another dimension of the prosperity of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway can be illustrated by an examination of the revenues. At the end of 1969, the PGE was seventh in Canada in the total freight handled in tons. However, that same year, the PGE was the fourth railroad in Canada for total rail revenues. Table 1 shows annual rail revenues of the top seven railways in Canada. At the end of 1970, in order of total rail rev-enues, these were: l) Canadian National, 2) Canadian Pacific, 3.) Quebec, North Shore, and Labrador, 4) Pacific Great Eastern, 5) Ontario Northland, owned by the Government of Ontario, 6) Chesapeke and Chio of the United States, and 7) Canada Southern, leased to the Penn Central of the United States. Table 1: Quadrennial Rail Revenues by Company in $ Millions and % of Annual Total 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 Canadian National $478.9 $565.6 $621.4 $650.2 $842.1 $990.0 (50.0%) (51.5%) (49.0%) (50.2%) (51.6%) (52.4%) Canadian Pacific $377.2' $420.8 $511.2 $497.1 $607.1 $679.3 (39.4%) (-39.0%) (40.?%) (38.4%) (37.2%) (35.7%) Quebec, N.S., & Lab. $ 0 . 0 $ 0 . 0 $,-27.0 $$34.8 $49.5 $56.0 . ( 0.0%) ( 0.0%) ( 2.j%) ( 2.4%) ( 3.0%) ( 3.0%) PGE $ 2.OS $ 4.9 $ 9.7 $ 14.1 $ 18.2 $ 31 .4 ( 0.2%) ( 0>g4%) ( 0.8%) ( 1.1%) ( 1.1%) ( 1.7%) Ontario Northland .$11153 $ 1 3 . 2 - $ 15 .0$114.4 ~$r18.6$ 27.0 ( 1.1%) ( 1.2%)) ( 1.2%) •( 1.1%) ( 1.1%) ( ( 1 .5% ) Chesapeke .& Ohio $.12.1. $ 12.3 $-1128 $ 12.9 $ 14.2 $ 16.2 ••( 1.3%) ( 1 . 1 % ) ( 0.9%) ( 1.0%) ( 0.9%) ( 0.9%) Canada Southern • $ 28.9 $ 24.3 $ 18.8 $ 18.0 $ 23 .2 $ 16.1 ( 3.0%) ( 2.2%) ( 1.5%) ( 1.4%) ( 1.4%) ( 0.9%) Source: D.B.S, 52 - 208 The charts on the preceding pages indicate the relative improvements the Pacific Great Eastern Railway made in both traffic and revenues between 1952 and 1970. As can be seen from its increasing percentage shares, the PGE has not just expanded these shares in proportion to the national averages. Economic growth in British Columbia was inseparable from the PGE's growth. It is difficult to determine whether the PGE led, in part, to the province's economic growth or the economic.;;growth gene-rated the traffic and revenues. -iS-The o u t s t a n d i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t h e i n d u s t r i e s i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a i s t h a t t h e y a r e g e n e r a l l y e x t r a c t i v e . They thus r e q u i r e p h y s i -c a l l o c a t i o n n e a r t h e s o u r c e o f t h e i r raw r e s o u r c e s . T h i s i s c h a r a c t e r -i s t i c o f t h e t i m b e r and f o r e s t p r o d u c t s i n d u s t r y and t h e m i n i n g i n d u s t r y . E s s e n t i a l l y , t h e raw r e s o u r c e , whether t r e e s , c o a l , c o p p e r , o r wheat , must be h a r v e s t e d o r e x t r a c t e d . In a d d i t i o n , t h e deve lopment o f t h e s e a c t i v i -t i e s i m p l i e s a d i s p e r s i o n o f p o p u l a t i o n t h r o u g h o u t t h e a r e a u n d e r g o i n g d e v e l o p m e n t . T h i s d i s p e r s i o n o r s e t t l e m e n t p a t t e r n may be c o n c e n t r a t e d by g e o g r a p h i c a l f e a t u r e s and t h e p a r t i c u l a r i n d u s t r y . In t h e s e words , P r e m i e r W.A.G. B e n n e t t r e f l e c t e d h i s e n t h u s i a s m f o r p r o v i n c i a l economic g r o w t h . "Augmented b y . . . e c o n o m i c deve lopment p o l i -c i e s o f t h e P r o v i n c i a l Government and i t s Crown u t i l i t e s , abundant n a t -u r a l r e s o u r c e s i n g r e a t demand, and the l o n g e s t e x p a n s i o n a r y b u s i n e s s c y c l e on r e c o r d , t h i s p e r i o d has been one o f u n p a r a l l e l e d growth f o r t h e B r i t i s h Co lumb ia Hydro and Power A u t h o r i t y and t h e P a c i f i c G r e a t E a s t e r n R a i l w a y Company - w i t h t h e i r l a r g e w e a l t h - c r e a t i n g c a p i t a l i n v e s t m e n t s a r e a l s o r e v e a l e d as major i n s t r u m e n t s o f P r o v i n c i a l d e v e l o p m e n t . " 2 A c c e s s t o t he r e s o u r c e r i c h c e n t r a l i n t e r i o r o f t h e p r o v i n c e was n o t d i r e c t l y a v a i l a b l e f r om t h e Lower M a i n l a n d u n t i l t h e deve lopment o f t h e PGE. C o n s e q u e n t l y , what r e s o u r c e s were e x t r a c t e d f r o m t h e a r e a s n o r t h o f Q u e s n e l f l o w e d towards marke t s i n t h e e a s t e r n p a r t o f N o r t h A m e r i c a . The a c c e s s was p a r t i c u l a r l y a l i g n e d t o the Canad ian N a t i o n a l w h i c h r u n s west t o P r i n c e Ruper t v i a P r i n c e George and e a s t t h r o u g h Edmonton. S i g n i f i c a n t c a p i t a l i n v e s t m e n t i n n o r t h e r n B r i t i s h Co lumb ia has been a t t r a c t e d by the a c c e s s p r o v i d e d by t h e PGE and t h e a l t e r n a t i v e Lower M a i n l a n d d o m e s t i c and e x p o r t m a r k e t s . B e t t e r market a c c e s s has h e l p e d t o make r e s o u r c e e x t r a c t i o n p r o f i t a b l e i n t h e h e r e t o f o r e more remote p a r t s o f t h e p r o v i n c e . The PGE t r a c k e x p a n s i o n has been ex ten s i ve . . Few o t h e r r a i l w a y s i n N o r t h A m e r i c a have l a i d as much t r a c k . s i n c e 1949. The p r o c e s s by w h i c h t h i s has been c a r r i e d out has been e q u a l l y u n u s u a l . U n t i l t h e Dease Lake e x t e n s i o n , t h e PGE c o n n e c t e d e s t a b l i s h e d u r b a n p l a c e s r a t h e r t h a n p u s h i n g i n t o t h e w i l d e r n e s s . I t c an be s a i d t h a t t h e e x p a n s i o n added a new a s p e c t . W i t h t h e Dease Lake e x t e n s i o n , t h e PGE appea red t o be c o n n e c t i n g f o c i o f i m p o r t a n t n a t u r a l r e s o u r c e s r e g i o n s t o t he e s t a b l i s h e d u r b a n c e n t r e s i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . Thus , t he r a i l w a y has p r o v i d e d a l t e r n a t i v e t r a n s p o r t a -t i o n t o t h e Canad ian N a t i o n a l s y s tem and t r u c k c o n n e c t i o n s f o r market a c c e s s . In t h e r e g i o n s p r e v i o u s l y u n s e r v e d by a b u l k c a r r i e r , t h e PGE has been a c a t a l y s t f o r p r i v a t e i n v e s t m e n t . The Pacific Great Eastern Railway, as a British Columbia Crown corporation, i s situated entirely within the province. The general offices and data systems centre of the PGE are located in Vancouver. Victoria i s the location of the corporate and bond registration office, a reflection of the Provincial Government's interest in the company. At the southern terminus of the PGE in North Vancouver, i s the day-to-day operations centre. These are the major offices of the company although others exist for local purposes along the railway. The finances of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway Company are rigourously controlled by the Provincial Government. This has been the case since the railway passed from private to provincial ownership i n 1918. From then u n t i l 1967, the PGE continued to operate at a d e f i c i t . Since 1954, the financial condition of the company has been d i f f i c u l t to follow. This subject is covered i n detail i n Chapter 2. The PGE i s governed by a board of directors appointed by the Premier. As Premier and Minister of Finance, W.A.C. Bennett is both Presi-dent and Chairman of the Board of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway. At the end of 1971, the other members of the,Board of Directors were Einar Gunderson, Executive Vice-President and former Social-Credit Minister of Finance, James Behan, Joseph Broadbent, General Manager, Ray Williston, Minister of Lands, Forests, and Water Resources, with G.S. Bryson, the Deputy Minister of Finance as Secretary of the Company. While the Board of Directors effectively sets the policies as well as the character of the PGE, the General Manager is the activator and co-ordinator. It is his job to oversee the railway operations so that these conform to the objectives set by the Board of Directors. The purpose of this thesis i s to determine the extent to which the Pacific Great Eastern Railway has promoted regional economic development i n those regions i t has served since 1952. The professed goal of the PGE is to open up the British Columbia central and northern interior . 3 The types of industrj.es and their economic effects upon the regions they are located in w i l l be the primary focus. Through better access, both investment and employment opportunities have been stimulated, leading to a further devel-opment of the province. K.G. Denike indicated that "Provincial govern-ment investment in the P.G.E. has significantly altered the accessibility of the North to the ramainder of the province and consequently,world markets." k -8-A secondary consideration of this dissertation i s the treatment of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway as a public or social service. That i s , the PGE provides British Columbia with a transportation system to meet needs previously unmet by other transportation f a c i l i t i e s . Since the PGE is an element of the Provincial Government, there i s question as to the extent i t s policies and practices should bear scrutiny in the same manner as companies in the private sector. Eventually in this situation, the question of benefits arises - to whom these accrue and at whose costs. The subject of benefits w i l l be approached qualitatively from two viewpoints: the Provincial Government and the region. Chapter 2 w i l l offer the Provincial Governments perspective. The regional perspectives w i l l be for the Squamish - Cariboo region (Chapter 3), Prince George (Chapter 4 ) , the Peace River - Liard region (Chapter 5 ) , and the Omineca - Stikine region (Chapter 6). For each region, characteristics of the freight gener-ated, the nature of the local economy, the potential for other types of economic activity, population growth and economic linkage w i l l be investi-gated. The interaction of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway and the dis-persion patterns of the industries and the population suggest implications of significance to regional planning. Each region offers a different set of circumstances to the planner. Local attitudes differ about attraction of new and more industry. These vary according to the levels of environ-mental and economic awareness. Interesting problems have occurred where new and expanding industries have required more and higher standards of services from municipalities financially or physically unable to offer them immediately. PGE industrial parks have offered planners problems of services provision and prediction of residential and commercial growth. A question arises as to whether regional planning implications offered by the interaction of the PGE and the industries and communities should be isolated from the economic and p o l i t i c a l . For the purpose of this thesis, regional planning, economic, and p o l i t i c a l observations w i l l be shown in their interrelationships. A brief review of "the theory of how transportation and regional economic development interact i s prerequisite to the narrower subjects exemplified by the PGE. It i s possible to set the PGE operations within . the constraints offered by any theory. Or the converse, a set of theories operated within the constraints of the PGE, i s possible. -9-Economic development of a r e g i o n i s d i r e c t l y r e l a t e d t o the ease of access t o resources and to outside markets. In B r i t i s h Columbia, the t r a n s p o r t a t i o n system must overcome the remoteness of the province from l a r g e markets and i t s d i f f i c u l t t e r r a i n . This system shapes the d i s t r i -b u t i o n of a c t i v i t i e s and i n f l u e n c e s the share that each r e g i o n c o n t r i -butes both to the Province and t o Canada. "With various degrees of emphasis, economists have recognized t h a t a major impetus f o r growth comes, at l e a s t i n the short run, from the a b i l i t y of a r e g i o n t o produce goods and s e r v i c e s demanded by the...economy and to market these at a competitive advantage w i t h respect t o other r e g i o n s . This propensity to export o b v i o u s l y depends to some extent on the access t h a t a r e g i o n has t o outside markets both f o r i t s i n p u t s and i t s outputs; i t i s a l s o r e l a t e d t o the e f f i c i e n c y t h a t t h i s r e g i o n shows i n assembling i t s f a c t o r s of p r o d u c t i o n , and depends t h e r e f o r e on the i n t e g r a l economic s t r u c t u r e of the r e g i o n ; • I n the l o n g run, growth becomes more s e l f - s u b s t a i n i n g when the r e g i o n can achieve s i z e a b l e r e g i o n a l markets f o r a c t i v i t i e s other than those o r i e n t e d d i r e c t l y toward export. " 5 A number of economic sup p o s i t i o n s apply to the r e l a t i o n s h i p between t r a n s p o r t a t i o n and r e g i o n a l economic development. These are reviewed by Charles R i v e r A s s o c i a t e s f o r the U.S. Department of Commerce. The more s i g n i f i c a n t of these, namely base theory, i n p u t — output, trade theory, and l o c a t i o n theory, are summarized b r i e f l y as f o l l o w s . In base theory, the primary stimulus to l o c a l economies i s d i r e c t e d toward developing the export or b a s i c a c t i v i t i e s . Regional expansion may occur i n t e r n a l l y w i t h the development of a competitive p o s i t i o n by i t s e x i s t i n g export i n d u s t r i e s or e x t e r n a l l y w i t h the a t t r a c t i o n of f o o t l o o s e i n d u s t r i e s . Hans Blumenfeld has argued t h a t i n r e l a t i o n t o determining a l l c i t i e s f a c t o r i n the export s e c t o r i s the c i t y or region's competive p o s i t i o n , determined by the q u a l i t y of i t s s e r v i c e s e c t o r , compared t o t h a t of other c i t i e s or r e g i o n s . Therefore, what determines the economy as a whole would be the s e r v i c e s e c t o r , not the export or basic s e c t o r . "The theory, moreover f a i l s t o address i t s e l f to the r e l e v a n t q u e s t i o n s ; What, i n f a c t , c o n s t i t u t e s the b a s i c s e c t o r of a r e g i o n and^what: factors,determine the -..growth of t h i s s e c t o r ? . . .Under a s t r i c t a p p l i c a t i o n of the base theory, the r o l e of t r a n s p o r t a t i o n can be described but not economically evaluated; e s s e n t i a l l y i t c o n s i s t s o f p r o v i d i n g the i n t e r r e g i o n a l geographical l i n k a g e s on which the flows of export goods w i l l be channelled. Viewed i n t h i s p e r s p e c t i v e , the demand f o r t r a n s p o r t f a c i l i t i e s i s o b v i o u s l y a d e r i v e d demand, and i t i s the nature of the b a s i c s e c t o r which determines the geographical d i r e c t i o n of the t r a n s p o r t a t i o n l i n k s (from production centres t o mar-ke t s ) and a l s o the appropriate, s e l e c t i o n and c o o r d i n a t i o n of t e c h -n o l o g i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t modes." A s s u m i n g t h a i c h a n g e s i n t h e s t r u c t u r e o f t r a n s p o r t a t i o n a f f e c t t h e demand f o r a r e g i o n ' s p r o d u c t s , m u l t i p l i e r a n a l y s i s , a r e f i n e m e n t i n b a s e t h e o r y , d e t e r m i n e s t h e r e s p o n s e o f t h e r e g i o n a l economy t o a c h a n g e i n e x t e r n a l demand. M u l t i p l i e r a n a l y s i s i n d i c a t e s t h a t a r e g i o n ' s e x p o r t s may g e n e r a t e s u c c e s s i v e e c o n o m i c e f f e c t s w h i c h i n c r e a s e e c o n o m i c a c t i v i t y i n t h e r e g i o n much more, t h a n t h e o r i g i n a l v a l u e o f t h e e x p o r t s . The t o t a l amount o f e c o n o m i c a c t i v i t y g e n e r a t e d a l s o d e p e n d s , t o some e x t e n t , u p o n t h e i n d u s t r i a l s t r u c t u r e o f t h e r e g i o n . The i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e i n d u s t r i a l s t r u c t u r e i s r e f l e c t e d by t h e l e v e l o f i t s s o p h i s t i c a t i o n . U s u a l l y , a r e g i o n b a s e d u p o n t h e p r i m a r y o r e x t r a c t i v e i n d u s t r i a l s e c t o r w i l l h a v e a l o w e r l e v e l o f e c o n o m i c a c t i v i t y t h a n t h e one b a s e d u p o n t h e t e r t i a r y o r s e r v i c e s e c t o r . The i n p u t - o u t p u t t e c h n i q u e i s a n a c c o u n t i n g s y s t e m d e v i s e d t o e v a l u a t e t h e i m p a c t o f a n e x o g e n o u s c h a n g e i n demand. T h i s t e c h n i q u e shows how a s t i m u l u s o f e x t e r n a l o r i g i n , s u c h as an i n c r e a s e i n e x p o r t s , i s c a r r i e d t h r o u g h o u t t h e e c o n o m y . The i n p u t - o u t p u t t e c h n i q u e r e q u i r e s a d i s -a g g r e g a t i o n o f t h e economy i n t o e i t h e r i n d u s t r i a l s e c t o r s , r e g i o n s , o r a c o m b i n a t i o n o f b o t h . T h i s d i s a g g r e g a t i o n i s p r i m a r i l y due t o t h e t e c h -n o l o g i c a l a n d g e o g r a p h i c a l l i n k s w h i c h e x i s t i n t h e economy. The t e c h n i q u e h a s s h o r t c o m i n g s i n t h a t i t assumes s t a b l e p r o d u c t i o n a n d o f t e n c o n s t a n t i n t e r r e g i o n a l t r a d e c o e f f i c i e n t s , r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e l e v e l o f o u t p u t . T r a d e t h e o r y s t a t e s t h a t e a c h o f two r e g i o n s w i l l e x c h a n g e t h o s e c o m m o d i t i e s i n w h i c h i t h a s a c o m p a r a t i v e a d v a n t a g e . On t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l s c a l e , t h i s l e a d s t o g r e a t e r p r o d u c t i o n e f f i c i e n c y . On t h e i n t e r r e g i o n a l s c a l e , i t r e s u l t s i n a n a b s o l u t e p r i c e d i f f e r e n t i a l between d i f f e r e n t p l a c e s . " I n i t s p r e s e n t f o r m , t r a d e t h e o r y p l a c e s t h e c o n c e p t o f c o m p a r a -t i v e a d v a n t a g e i n : a s y s t e m o f g e o g r a p h i c a l c o o r d i n a t e s a n d c o n s i d e r s i n t e r r e g i o n a l t r a d e as r e s u l t i n g f r o m p r i c e d i f f e r e n t i a l t h a t e x i s t a t t h e m a r k e t p l a c e . What d e t e r m i n e s t h e v o l u m e and d i r e c t i o n o f a r e g i o n ' s e x c h a n g e s i s , t h e r e f o r e , i t s e f f i c i e n c y i n m a n u f a c t u r i n g a n d d i s t r i b u t i n g i t s goods a t a n a d v a n t a g e o v e r o t h e r r e g i o n s . C o m p a r a -t i v e a d v a n t a g e s h o u l d , t h e r e f o r e , be c o n s i d e r e d t h e r e s u l t i n g f o r c e o f two c o m p o n e n t s : a p r o d u c t i o n a d v a n t a g e a n d a t r a n s p o r t a t i o n a d v a n -t a g e . " 7 T h u s , t h e r o l e o f t r a n s p o r t a t i o n i n e c o n o m i c d e v e l o p m e n t i s t o p r o v i d e a r e g i o n w i t h a n e c o n o m i c a d v a n t a g e r e l a t i v e t o o t h e r r e g i o n s so t h a t i t may s e c u r e a l a r g e r s h a r e o f t h e demand f o r c e r t a i n p r o d u c t s . "The n e t i m p a c t ( i n r e g i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t ) d e p e n d s o n c h a n g e s i n q u a n t i t i e s i m p o r t e d a n d e x p o r t e d ; t h i s i m p a c t must t h e r e f o r e be e s t i -m a t e d i n t h e f r a m e w o r k o f s u p p l y , demand o r c o m p a r a t i v e a d v a n t a g e relationships. It can be noted that because of intermodal trans-portation differentials, a region can somewhat protect itself against a return flow from other regions. This is illustrated by a simple example. A mineral resource rich region wishes to expand its trade with neighbouring regions and cost studies have shown that there is no difference between rail and highway to service the designated markets. The region may minimize the backlash of consumers' goods by selecting a rail system which show higher costs :£pr the handling of transportation,.services required by such goods." Location theory makes a number of important contributions. One point is that a business will tend to locate where supply and demand conditions can be combined to maximize profits. A region will prosper or decline as changes in the necessary conditions alter the attraction value of the locational choices. Labour and material supply costs increase with distance from their' supply. Market demand is a function of size and therefore is also related to distance between places of consumption. If the processor's output requires substantial reduction in bulk from raw resources to final products, he is expected to locate near the source of the raw resources. If the output involves a substantial increase in bulk by the use of ubiquitous materials, the processor is expected to locate near the market. For situations when these extremes must be com-promised, the optimal location depends upon other cost factors. Transpor-tation costs, for one, determine the pull to locate near raw material resources, where labour is available, or in proximity to the consumer. . Economies of scale may occur in the production-of large quanti-ties. Economies of scale result from specified capacities of machinery and equipment, and help to concentrate manufacturers geographically. These are related to localization economies where benefits accrue to manu-facturers of the same industry which locate near each other. Urbaniza-tion economies occur as benefits to manufacturers in unrelated industries which locate near each other. These benefits refer to better public ser-vices at cheaper rates, easier borrowing, access to research and develop-ment centres, access to.a labour pool, and to better business services. In British Columbia, the highway and rail networks offer indus-tries a choice of transportation modes. These two modes are primarily complementary transportation technologies. Highway programmes andt-the resulting trucking both act to -favor short haul movement of goods; rail acts to favour long haul movement of goods. 9 Relative to rail, truck--12-ing involves higher labour costs. Since highways are not as limited by te r r a i n and in c l i n e s as r a i l s , trucking i s able to take advantage of t h i s difference to provide a better d i s t r i b u t i o n of service. On the other hand, r a i l has l i n e haul costs that diminish with distance. As r a i l terminal costs are high, the less often the t r a i n stops and the further apart stops occur the more competitive'the mode becomes with the truck. Some of the benefits of trucking have been incorporated'into that of r a i l with the advent of piggyback or t r a i l e r - o n - f l a t c a r . In t h i s manner, the two modes have been able to use a single right-of-way and a single power unit . This technology has been adopted by the P a c i f i c Great Eastern Railway to help provide more e f f i c i e n t c o l l e c t i o n and d i s t r i b u -tion; of goods. In t h i s way, wholesale and r e t a i l merchants have been ablelto f i n d the railways transportation more economical. Footnotes 1. Bruce Ramsey, PGE: Railway to the North (Vancouver: M i t c h e l l Press, 1962), p. 147. 2. W.A.C. Bennett i n B r i t i s h Columbia, Financial and Economic Review ( V i c t o r i a : Queen's Prin t e r , 1971), p. 3 . 3. J.-S. Broadbent, "Northern B r i t i s h Columbia - The Awakening Giant" (Vancouver: P a c i f i c Great Eastern Railway, 1971), p. 3 . 4. K.G. Denike, The Role of Transportation Investment i n Economic Develop- ment: B r i t i s h Columbia (Vancouver: Centre for Transportation Studies f University of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1972), p. 9 . 5. ; Charles River Associates, The Role of Transportation i n Regional Economic Development. A State of the Art Report. PB 177 497 (Cambridge: Charles River Associates, 1967), pp. 2 - 3 . 6. I b i d . , pp. 17-18 7. I b i d . , p. 25. 8. I b i d . , p. 31. 9 . I b i d . , pp. 78-79. J ^ LEOMTJ Highways — Bail ways +H Under Cons.+ + + + Under Surv.- - - -Rnilvv.-.ys PGE Pacific Groat Eastern CUB Canadian N a t i o n a l CFR Canadian Pacific B20 Burlington Northern r/P&Y ./bite Pass and Yukon IT.'.r; Northers Alberta 1— 7s St CHARLOTTE B R I T I S H C O L U M B I A Main Railroad. L i n e s -14-One of the underlying purposes of this dissertation is to attempt to assess how the Pacific Great Eastern Railway has been coordinated with Provincial Government policy for development. Only part of the policy can be illustrated directly through the operations of the PGE. . A comprehen-sive attempt requires looking at PGE interactions with other agencies of the Provincial Government. The more obvious elements are the B.C. Hydro and Power Authority, the Provincial Department of Highways, and the Provin-cial Department of Lands, Forests, and Water Resources. Finance An interesting facet of the PGE is its financing. Immediately prior to 1954, the Pacific Great Eastern Railway had no bonded debt in its own name. The company had simply borrowed'from the Provincial Government to cover its losses. The debt of the PGE was financed from general rev-enue bonds issued by the Province. By 1954, that debt had accumulated to 190,935,320. On April 14, 1954, the Legislature of British Columbia passed the Pacific Great Eastern Company Debt Adjustment Act. In this act, $90,898,506 was computed as interest owed to the Province on money borrowed by the PGE over the previous forty years. This entire amount was written off as an uncollectable bad debt. Advances of $2,598,958 owed to the Province were cancelled. Additional interest computed and carried on the books of the PGE, which amounted to $34,564,983 was deleted. This left $62,872,874 due to the Province by the PGE. For this debt the act authorized the company to issue securities to the Province. The Pacific Great Eastern Construction Loan Act was enacted on April 14, 1954. This legislation established the means of public financ-ing for the PGE. Essentially, it stated-.'.thatmoney could be borrowed in two ways. It could be borrowed by the Province for the PGE and would be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund. As the PGE required liquid assets the Lieutenant-Governor in Council then was to make loans to the company up to the total amount borrowed for PGE purposes by the Province. The PGE, unless exempted by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, was to be required to make annual interest payments to the Province. In addition, the PGE could borrow directly by issuing securities in its own name, again subject to the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council. .The ori-ginal financial limitation for either type of security on the open market was $30,000,000. This financial limitation has been raised several times. It was $240,000,000 as of' January, 1972. - 1 5 -The December, 1971 funded debt appears in Table 2. In December, 1971, the PGE owed a funded debt of $239,898,000 against which $35,213,460 had accumulated in the Sinking Fund. With the exception of Series G, and the Parity Development Bonds, the bonds were sold mostly in New York.'" Those bonds sold in New York were designated to be payable in U.S. dollars in spite of the lack of parity between the U.S. and the Canadian currencies. The Series G. and the Parity Development Bonds were sold primarily in British Columbia. ., The Parity Development Bonds are short term and -represent the only PGE bonds which have been retired since 1952. They originated in 1959 as Series F three year/bonds sold at %. That series sold $ 3 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 . In 1962, a replacement series was issued for four years at 5j|#. $50,900,000 worth of bonds was sold of which $35,600,000 was to retire Series F. To help sell the original issue of Parity Development Bonds in 1959, the interest rate was established at just above that for the Canada Savings Bonds ( 5 $ ) . In addition, the Province revoked the payroll deduction privilege previously accorded the Canada Savings Bonds and offered the Parity Development Bonds to 2 • • ' its civil servants in lieu. The Pacific Great Eastern Railway has issued capital stock as was authorized by the pacific Great Eastern Construction Loan Act in 1954. The stock has a par value of $100 per share. The Province was the sole owner of the stock as of January, 1972. The initial 1954 stock, had a Value of $65,290,900. This issue of stock replaced the outstanding PGE debt held in secur-ities issued to the Province for $62,872,874. The difference was made up by cash advances to the PGE. The Pacific Great Eastern Railway Company Share Capital Act, enacted April 1, 1966, authorized by the Minister of Finance to purchase stock from the PGE. By.1968, the Province held $90,572,900 million of PGE shares of capital stock. That year, an order-irt-council authorized the Minister of Finance to purchase $50,000,000 in shares of capital stock. The' Province may own?shares of capital stock in the PGE valued at $100 each to a maximum value of $210,572,900. As of January, 1972, the Province owned shares of capital stock valued at $160,572,900. It would appear from the Province's Statement of Assets and Liabilities that the money for this stock came from money budgeted annually as "Special purpose funds—unexpended 3 balances", i.e. revenue surpluses. The Government of Canada granted the Pacific Great Eastern Railway -16-TABLE 2 L I A B I L I T I E S , C A P I T A L AND R E T A I N E D I N C O M E C U R R E N T L I A B I L I T I E S T r a f f i c A c c o u n t s P a y a b l e A c c o u n t s P a y a b l e G u a r a n t e e D e p o s i t s a n d H o l d b a c k s A c c r u e d C h a r g e s O t h e r C u r r e n t L iab i l i t i e s 7971 U N A D J U S T E D C R E D I T S D E F E R R E D L I A B I L I T I E S N o t e s P a y a b l e I n s u r a n c e R e s e r v e .. O t h e r F U N D E D D E B T S i n k i n g F u n d B o n d s a n d D e b e n t u r e s : S e r i e s A — 3 1/4%— 1 5 t h O c t o b e r 1984 S e r i e s B — 3 % % — 1 5 t h J u n e 1981 S e r i e s C — 4 % % — 15th A p r i l 1982-S e r i e s D — 5 % — 2 n d D e c e m b e r 1982 S e r i e s E — 4 % % — 1 5 t h D e c e m b e r 1987 S e r i e s 6 — 4 % %—1st M a r c h 1988 (Note 1) ' S e r i e s H — 4 V 4 % — 1 s t A p r i l 1994 S e r i e s - J — S 3 A % 1st J u n e 1991 S e r i e s K — 5 % % — 1 s t S e p t e m b e r 1991 . . S e r i e s M—6 % — 15th A p r i l 1992 S e r i e s N—8Vi %—1st N o v e m b e r 1990 S e r i e s P — 7 . 5 4 % — 30th D e c e m b e r 1995 S e r i e s S — 7 . 2 6 % — 2 n d J u l y 1996 S e r i e s T — 7 . 2 6 % — 2 n d J u l y 1996 S e r i e s U — 7 . 6 6 % — 1 s t A u g u s t 1991 L e s s — S i n k i n g F u n d D e p o s i t s S e r i e s A to E a n d H , J , K , M , N , a n d P S e r i e s L — 7 % Par i ty D e v e l o p m e n t B o n d s — 1 5 t h S e p t e m b e r 1971 . S e r i e s R a n d RR—6V2 % Pari ty D e v e l o p m e n t B o n d s — 15th S e p t e m b e r 1976 G R A N T IN A I D O F C O N S T R U C T I O N — G o v e r n m e n t of C a n a d a C A P I T A L S T O C K A N D R E T A I N E D I N C O M E * -C a p i t a l S t o c k : A u t h o r i z e d — 2 , 1 0 5 , 7 2 9 S h a r e s of $100.00 e a c h . . : $210,572,900 I s s u e d —1,605 ,729 F u l l y Pa id S h a r e s to H e r M a j e s t y in R i g h t of the P r o v i n c e of Br i t i sh C o l u m b i a : R e t a i n e d I n c o m e : Def ic i t at 31st D e c e m b e r : - -L e s s — P r o f i t for y e a r — E x h i b i t " B " '. — I n t e r e s t o n C a p i t a l F u n d s .' 1,943,401 476,365 1,925.960 7,754,49?. 1,562,200 $ 13.664,416 j S 10,361,500 $ 550,255 1 $ 258,826 3 6,464,000'^ 1 , 0 7 5 , 0 0 0 ! 1,308,834 i $ 1,051,779 1,380,805 $ 6,847,834 $ 2,432,584 $ 4,500.000. . 10,000,000 ' 20,000.000 S 10,000,00*3) 30,000,000 \ 2 , 3 9 3 , 0 0 0 ^ 10,0.Oj3 ,Q0O.| 7 .500,000 f0 ,00O ( 000 ; 20,000*000 ' . . 15,000; COO i. 5,000,000 •? 20 ,000 ,000 -<\ _ 15 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 $ 153,393,000 ' 35 ,213 ,460 I $ 153,173,540 51 r 5 0 5 , 0 0 0 : $ 204 ,634 ,540 £ 1,250,000 •; * 150,572,900 j t • J 2,379,357 ] '. 383,5391 • J ( 1,330,7'SS) '•: £ 159,183,112 j I $ 336 ,180 ,159 j 1970 2,025,715 1,476,625 1,832,957 4,968,503 57,700 4,500,000 10,000,000 20,000,000 10,000,000 30,000,000 2,482,000 10,000,000 14,000,000 7,500,000 10,000,000 20,000,000 15,000,000 $ 153,482,000 30 ,406,538 $ 123,075,462 50 ,505,000 $ 173,580,462 $ 1,250,000 $ 160,572,900 $ 4 ,368,699 896,923 _ 1.092,419 $( 2,379,357) $ 158,193,543 $"346,076,915 Source,: Pacific. Great Eastern 'Railway, Annual Report, 1971, p . 9. 1 - 1 7 -a subsidy of $2,480,000 paid by April, 1958. This grant was based upon $15,000 per mile between Quesnel and Prince George and $25,000 per mile for the first fifty miles north of Prince George. This was a grant in aid for construction. The Pacific Great Eastern Railway Federal Subsidy Advance Act was enacted March 27, 1961 . This act assumed that the federal government owed $19.8 million in construction subsidies to the PGE. This was based upon $50,000 per mile for all of the miles of main line added after 1952. The Provincial Government took upon itself to advance $5,000,000 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund to the PGE. This money was to be repaid by the federal government from the $19,812,500 forthcoming. As of the year's end 1971, the federal government did not recognize the debt. To recapitulate the financing, the'1954 debt of $190,935,320 was reduced to $62,872,874 by statute. That yearj this reduced debt was .increased by about $2,400,000 in advances and the entire debt was replaced with a stock issue of $65,290,900. Further issues of PGE capital stock to the Province have accumulated to $160,572,900 with another $50,000,000 authorized for pur-chase. Parity Development Bonds were reissued in British Columbia for a value outstanding in 1971 of $51,505,000. Debentures arid Sinking Fund Bonds were issued primarily-on the New York bond market in U.S. dollars; for a value outstanding of $188,393,000. Credited against this, the 1971 PGE Annual Report showed deposits .of $35,213,460. The funded debt was thus $204,684,540. The effect of the PGE financing was to transfer the bonded debt from the Province to the company. In 1952, before W.A.C. Bennett was Premier of British Columbia, the PGE debt was offset by general revenue bonds issued 6y the Province. However, by 1952, the PGE debt had been taken over by the company itself. ' The reduction of the PGE debt and the issuance of shares of ,capital stock allowed a corresponding decrease in the Provincial debt in general revenue .bonds. Then as the PGE required funds, bonds were issued by the com-pany and guaranteed by thePProvince. In this manner, the PGE debt became bonded to the company rather than directly to the Province—although the Province owned all of the capital stock in the company and guaranteed all of its debt. Subsequent issues of PGE capital stock appear to allow the Province to advance money to the company in periods of high bond interest and Provincial budget surpluses. The financing for the Pacific Great Eastern Railway is interesting not -18-TABLE 3 EXHIBIT " B " OPERATING REVENUES Freight . Switching , Passenger '. ; Express Communications Rents of Buildings and other Property Miscellaneous Income Foreign Exchange OPERATING EXPENSES v Maintenance of Way and Structures Maintenance of Equipment Traffic Expenses ..„: Transportation Expenses General Expenses Equipment Rents : ... Railway Tax Accruals Cornmercia!" Communications"';.. REVENUE FROM RAILWAY OPERATIONS BEFORE DEPRECIATION Add—Non-Operating Income :...:.r NET INCOME BEFORE DEPRECIATION, INTEREST ON DEBT AND AMORTIZATION OF BOND DISCOUNT Deduct— Interest on Funded and Unfunded Debt Amortization of Discount on Funded Debt NET PROFIT BEFORE DEPRECIATION Less—Depreciation for the Year NET PROFIT FOR YEAR—-Carried to Balance Sheet Exhibit " A " 1971 $36,233,760 987,100 267.903 43,767 362,867 221,716 152,545 74,171 $38,343,829 5 $ 4,484,300 4,916,421 409,643 i 12,178,715 :| 1,149,855. 2,167,040 129,146 "• 235,455" $25,670,575 i 512^673,254 2,845,658 ,$t 5,518,912 $10,447,302 759,870 j $70,601,172 $ 4,917,740 3,328,171 $ 989,569 | 1970 $29,514,026 833,548 249,209 47,631 367,942 248,185 173,466 ( 79,081) $31,354,926 $ 4,016,155 4,029,693 333,853 10,259,630 1,417,828 1,044,360 137,940 183,762 $21,423,221 $ 9,931,705 2,347,575 $12,279,280 $ 8,081,169 157,788 $ 8,238,957 $ 4,040,323 3,143,400 $ 896,923 AUDITOR'S REPORT REPORT by Buttar and Chiene, Chartered Accountants, Vancouver, B.C. upon the accounts of the PACIFIC GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY COMPANY, . As at 31st December 1971. We have examined the Balance Sheet of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway Company as at 31st December 1971 and the Statement of Consolidated Income for the year ended on that date, and have received all the information and explanations required by us. The statements are prepared in conformity with the Uniform Classification of Accounts prescribed by the Board of Transport Commissioners for Canada. Our examination included a general review of the' accounting procedures and such tests of accounting records and other supporting evidence as we considered necessary in the circumstances. In our opinion, and according to the best of our information, the explanations given to us and as shown by the books of the Company, the accompanying Balance Sheet and Statement of Consolidated Income present fairly the financial position of the Company as at 31st December 1971, and the results of its operations for the year ended on that date, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles applied on a basis consistent with that of the preceding year. Reported by, Vancouver, B.C. BUTTAR & CHIENF, 20th January 1972. Chartered Accountants. Source: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, Annual Report, 1971, p. 10. -19-only in how it has been arranged but also in how it may have effected various regions of the province. The money which the Provincial Government has committed to the PGE in terms of debt cancellation and capital stock purchases can be considered as subsidy to those regions directly served by the PGE. The moneyccame from the Consolidated Revenue Fund and could have been spent on projects anywhere throughout the province. K.G. Denike stated in his paper that the transportation improvement of the PGE extensions created benefits, in terms of improved rail linkages, which were manifested throughout British Columbia.^ Obviously, those urban places situated dir-ectly along the PGE route benefited relatively more than those with access to only the other railways. Mr. Denike concluded that the Provincial Govern-ment investments in the other regions of the Province offset the PGE invest-ments in those regions it served directly. Freight Rates Probably the most significant fact about the Pacific Great Eastern Railway is that it lies wholly within British Columbia. Because of this, freight internal to the province is not regulated by the federal regulatory commission. Also, PGE railroad track substructure (quality of ballast, spacing of ties, weight of rails, etc.«) need not be up to the standards imposed upon interprovincial railways. Freight rates for cargo carried only within the province by such railways are determined in Victoria. Freight rates can be used to help channel production of the British Columbia inter-ior to the Lower Mainland and for export out of provincial ports. The importance of the PGE as an alternative to ship solely within British Columbia did not begin to manifest itself until after track was laid into North Vancouver in 1956. Prior to then, freight terminating at Squamish but destined for either export or the Lower Mainland was transhipped by .barge to Vancouver. This transhipment was a major constraint on the rail freight movement. Before 1956, freight destined for the Lower Mainland or export, which originated near and north of Prince George, found a shorter shipping 5 time to Vancouver via Edmonton. At the same time, track was extended into the Peace River Block. The facility for movement along corridors controlled by the PGE has created a greater potential for control by the Provincial Government ofvthe direction of trade. It is a combination of the control of natural resources and the determination of internal freight rates and service that aids in this control. It is beyond the scope of this thesis to analyse freight rate theory. -20-It is enough to note that the effect of freight rates is an important facet of regional economic development. It is a factor in comparative advantage. The PGE is-able to offer attractive freight rates for commodities shipped entirely within British Columbia on.PGE tracks. These may be less than the rates established by the Canadian Transport Commission'for freight carried to extra-provincial destinations. However, it would appear that generally the PGE freight rates are set according to what the traffic can bear. Two exceptions are lumber' and veneer destined to the United States. These are subject to an "arbitrary" rate set by the PGE. Essentially this is the cost of transporting lumber or veneer from the mill.site to either Prince George or North Vancouver.^ UDue to the comparatively tight lumber market in 1971, the "arbitrary" rate was unpopular with the forest products producers interviewed as background to this thesis late that year. "The communities (along the PGE right-of-way) are subject to higher freight rates than are most shipping points in other parts of the Province. This is due in part to the distance factor but more to the existing tariff structure which reflects the existence of competing methods of transport. Freight charges on shipments from Vancouver or Prince George are generally lower than from Williams Lake regardless of the distance involved...The freight differential borne by local shippers is«.... lafegest on relatively short-haul movements and smallest on movements east of Port Arthur (Thunder Bay)".7 An important consideration appears to be that freight rates deter-mined by the Canadian Transport Commission are slow to change. "Working in competitive circumstances the management of a firm finds value in being able quickly to adjust its rates to changing traffic conditions or to changes in 8 rates instituted by competitors." However, should there be revision in the CTC freight rates or a perceived need to adjust freight rates, the PGE appears to be able" to obtain the necessary revisions upon application to the Provin-cial Department of Commercial Transport. This coordination between the PGE and the Department of Commercial t Transport can react quicker to market conditions than the CTC. Theoretically, in times of highoout-of-province demand, a PGE rate lower than the CTC rates could focus the export trade through Vancouver. When demand may be low, a PGE rate lower than the CTC rates may help to make a product more attractive within the province; a PGE rate above those of the CTC might be used to help force cutbacks in production. Used unilaterally, the freight rate determination could be construed to be a form of Provincial subsidy to lumber and veneer. The "arbitrary" rate is based upon service provided at cost. Thus, while this rate receives -21-no subsidy, i t also implies that i t does not help to cross-subsidize other freight. When the CTC rates are above the "arbitrary " rate, lumber and veneer subject to the "arbitrary" rate can be transported cheaper than the same products not subject to i t . Service The efficiency of service to various companies along the PGE appears to vary with the product shipped. The common complaint made by those businesses contacted for the purpose of this thesis was the boxcar shortage. This was especially true of the PGE which has traditionally 9 relied upon other railways for the provision of boxcars. In late 1971, the CNR was s t i l l the primary source of boxcars since i t linked with the ¥GE in both Prince George and North Vancouver. In the past, the PGE a t t i -tude has been "why should we provide boxcars that w i l l end up from Alberta to Georgia"—in essence, anywhere but in British Columbia.^ This a t t i -tude has changed very recently. Perhaps i t i s a reflection upon Premier Bennett's promotion of the PGE as a travelling-advertisement for British Columbia; i t may be a visual reminder of the economic sphere of influence of the province. Table 4 indicates the increase of ro l l i n g stock from 1970 to 1971. In 1970, there was a total of 2186 freight cars. At year-end 1971, this t o t a l became 3261. That i s an increase of almost 50% in one year. Table 4: Rolling Stock. 1970 - 1971 1970 Added Retired 1971 Diesel Units 67 7 0 74 Boxcars 604 700 28 1276 Bulkhead Flatcars 7 300 0 307 Piggyback Flatcars 336 50 0 386 Log Flatcars 346 0 0 346 Woodchip Gondolas 536 0 0 536 Gondola Cars 169 50 0 219 Refrigerator, Tank 41 4 1 44 Total, Freight Cars 1693 1104 28 2769 Passanger Coach 7 0 1 6 Baggage, Mail 2 0 1 1 Source: Pacific Great Eastern Railway Correspondence, March 10, 1972 -22-The PGE has found traffic demand sufficient to expand its diesel fleet. Table 4 indicates that in 1 9 7 1 , seven power units were added. Also, there were Remote Controlled Cars. The 1 9 7 1 total of RCC units was four. The use of RCC units was initiated by the PGE for longer trains operating on grades.^ The RCC unit is located at the centre of the train and its coordinated with the head diesel engine. In this manner, power to pull the train is more efficiently distributed. One diesel unit that ordinarily would be put at the front of the train just to help the train get over grades is eliminated. In addition to the power units added in 1 9 7 1 , the PGE found it necessary to lease as many as six diesel engines 12 from other railways. j At the outset of the preparation for this dissertation, it was decided that informational input was needed from both governmental agen-cies and businesses operating along the PGE route. This input was achieved by writing 1 4 6 agencies and businesses. The response rate was about 3 0 % . A list of the respondees appears as Appendix I to this thesis. One of the questions asked in the letter referred to the quality of service that was provided by the PGE. . - . -; What was particularly unsettling to many of the sawmill operations responding was that the PGE was unable ..to provide -predictable service to its rail sidings. This is important to those companies which have' no other feasible alternative for shipping their production. One large company in the Cariboo, as part of its land lease agreement, is under contract to ship 9 5 % of its plant:production via the PGE as long as boxcars are available. Companies in the survey rated the PGE services from excellent to "What might be expected of a Provincially owned entity under the influence of politically motivated policies." Generally.low ratings came from the non-forest product industries. These industries seemed to feel discrimin-ated against by the PGE. However, more than one company implied that ser-vice complaints appear'1, to-cause a profusion of minor irritations which invariably caused more trouble than the original complaint. Thus, it apparently is a matter of putting up with whatever is available whenever. Vancouver Wharves Ltd. of North Vancouver has partially alleviated this problem by operating five of its own engines over its 14 inaugural train to Fort Nelson was delayed one day because of slides along Howe Sound. In early 1972, about 25 boxcars derailed near Horseshoe Bay, two of which slid through homes downhill from the tracks. In 1965, PGE union safety representatives to the B.C. Workmens1 Compensation Board alledged numerous safety irregularities in a letter to the Attorney-General, Leslie Peterson. The letter charges: "The PGE completely disregards the safety of its employees; there are only two safety committees to cover 800 miles of line; meetings are irregular and proper minutes not kept; vegetation covers the whole railway and weeds have not been removed for years; there are no proper shoulders on the track; signals can't be seen for trees which scrape the sides of trains; boards, logs and garbage are scattered over industrial tracks; work equipment is in disrepair and cars in crumbling condition, some with-out warning to crews; engines are sent out of shops in filthy conditions.""' At the beginning of 1 9 7 2 , some main line ballast and rail improve-ments were underway. The entire main line between North Vancouver and Prince George was improved to 1 0 0 pound or better rail by the end of 1 9 7 0 . There were reports that the rail taken up by this improvement was relaid along the extensions to Fort Nelson and Dease Lake. The safety implica-tions of this reuse policy were not available at the end of 1 9 7 1 since scheduled freight traffic from Fort Nelson had not yet begun. B.C. Hydro The British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, established in 1 9 6 1 , is the sister Provincial Crown corporation to the PGE. B. C. Hydro has had a major effect on regional development in British Columbia. B.C. Hydro has built a number of major hydroelectric power projects throughout the province. Generally, the initial economic effect of these projects was to provide construction employment. The W.A.C. Bennett Dam, near Hudson Hope in the Peace River region, was such a project with an impact on the PGE. Massive shipments of cement, generator parts, and rock and gravel appeared in the 1 9 6 5 freight statistics, corresponding with the dam construction. While the PGE expansion has permitted a certain amount of interior regional development, B.C. Hydro has apparently;had the opposite long range effect. Although B.C. Hydro tried to*attract industries to locate adjacent to the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, few did. The major deterrent to that site appears to have been the lack, of virtually any raw resources and labour pool that might be required by an electricity intensive industry. The long term result of this hydroelectric dam project has been the transmission of its product to the Lower Mainland.! The effect of the B.C. Hydro hydroelectric project on the Peace River has been to help centralise manufacturing activity in the Lower Main land. Manufacturing and service industries in the Lower Mainland did not use enough.electricity in 1 9 7 1 for its cost to offset labour pool, urbani-sation, or localization benefits of the Lower Mainland. Another effect of the-hydoelectric projects has been the lakes -26-behind them. Lake Williston, behind the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, offers the forest industry cheap transportation and excellent access to the resource hinterland. It can also serve as a ready-made log retaining pond. In addition, these lakes can offer excellent potential for recreation and its associated service functions. The recreation aspect does not appear to have much benefit for the PGE. Outdoor recreation industries such as canoe, motorboat, and camper assembly might have potential. Cottages on the artificial lakes would probably be reached by road; their construc-tion would be from local lumber. This assumes that the PGE would remain freight-oriented, without a high-speed, passenger transportation capa-city. However, as the PGE lays track into previously inaccessible parts of British Columbia, it also helps to make potential hydroelectric dam sites become more feasible. Nearby rail access offers B.C. Hydro cheaper transportation for the necessary parts and bulk materials as it did for the W.A.C. Bennett Dam. In the northern and central interior parts of British Columbia served or potentially served by the PGE, hydroelectric dam sites could become feasible located on the Liard River, the Kechita River, the Dease River, and/or the Stikine River. Among other considerations, all are well away from major urban concentrations and all of these rivers, except the Stikine, flow to the north. The mouth of the Stikine is near Wrahgell, Alaska. Preservation, conservation, and environmental considerations aside, with increased .demand for-hydroeiectricity, sites on these "out-of-the-way" rivers might be plausible. Then, as hydroelectric demand would increase in the Lower Mainland, B.C. Hydro would be able to provide the power. When the B.C. Hydro was incorporated, it took over the property of the British Columbia Electric Company, a private monopoly in the Lower Mainland. Part of this property included.a very lucrative rail operation in the Lower Mainland: the British Columbia Electric Route (BCE). This railway was owned by B.C. Hydro as of January, 1972 and operated between Chilliwack and Vancouver by way of Langley and Surrey. Total track mileage was 165 miles. The BCE owned six diesel engines and no rail cars. However, for the year ending March, 1971, this railway had gross revenues of $8,001,617 and transported 2,200,066 tons of freight.^ This is compared to the PGE gross revenues of $31,354,924 and rail tonnage of 4,774,120 for the year ending December, 1970. One reason for the high -27-tonnage carried by the BCE was that, as of January, 1972, i t was the only r a i l connection to the Roberts Bank Superport bulk loading facilities. In January, 1972, Roberts Bank was a provincially owned and operated bulk loading harbour south of the Fraser River; at that time, i t loaded only coal shipped to its deep water docks by CPR unit train from the Kootenay region of British Columbia. The 23 miles of r a i l between the BCE and Roberts Bank was owned by the B.C. Harbours Board Railways as of January, 1972. The B.C. Har-bours Board is the Provincial authority delegated with the promotion of Roberts Bank, a National Harbours Board facility. In 1971, the railway owned no engines or rolling stock. In April, 1970, the PGE entered into a contract arrangement with the B.C. Harbours Board to manage, maintain, 18 . and complete construction of the Board's railway. -It is conceivable that an arrangement similar that between the B.C. Harbours Board and the PGE for the operation of its railway might occur between the Br.C. Hydro and the PGE. Effective April 1, 1972, the 19 PGE contracted only to manage the BCE. The BCE remained the property of the B.C. Hydro. However, a more complete takeover of the BCE by the PGE may eventually occur. Such a transfer would make the PGE the only Provincial Crown corporation operating r a i l transportation while B.CC v-Hydro would confine itself to energy generation and transmission. Provincial Department of Highways The Provincial Department of Highways has had l i t t l e direct inter-action with the PGE. This is primarily due to the difference in the mode users. The PGE provides its service to industries. The Department of Highways is more oriented to the accommodation of numbers of vehicles. The largest user group of highways is the public. The Department of Highways has been a factor in regional develop-ment. Since the Department is more sensitive to urban populations (the concentration "of numbers of vehicles Is greater there), highways have tended to connect urban places. Because of this urban orientation, Provincial highways have not terminated for access to resources such as the PGE has done. If an industry has found this type of access to natural resources desirable, i t has been'left to the individual company to build 20 the road on its own. The highway construction policy of the Department of Highways under Premier Bennett.has been to-provide access to urban places in British Colum--> i bia.^l To a certain extent, industries have been accommodated such as was -28-the case of the Stewart-Watson Lake Highway. Once an unimproved road i s built, i t i s monitored to determine whether the t r a f f i c on i t i s s u f f i -cient to warrent improvement. Improvements may be frequent grading, o i l surfacing,.paving, or widening. When the monitoring process i s metered, an inherent prejudice usually favours the automobile. The metering device is usually set off by the number of "bumps"—interpreted as the number of vehicle axles. In this situation, the average truck i s valued as 1-| auto-mobiles. Traffic characteristics must be known or else i t s truck compo-nent, judged on the basis of "bumps", may be incorrect. By 1972, the Department of Highways had built or significantly improved only four major sections of road in the northern and central 22 interior since 1952. The Stewart-Watson Lake Highway was expected to be completed by the end of 1972. The Yellowhead Highway, between Prince Rupert and Prince George, via Smithers has been substantially improved. An eastern addition was constructed along the Fraser River from Prince George to Jasper, Alberta. The Hudson Hope Highway, connecting Chetwynd and Fort St. John, was constructed by 1965, at the time of con-struction of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam. The John Hart-Peace River Highway between Prince George and Dawson Creek, was ..completed in 1954. The Cariboo Highway, between Cache Creek and .Prince George via Williams Lake and Quesnel, was a paying project underway before 1952. The "Alaska Highway connects Whitehorse in the Yukon with Dawson Creek by.way of Fort Nelson and Fort St. John. It i s mostly unpaved in British Columbia. The only paved section i s between Dawson Creek and Fort St. John and about'20 miles beyond. The Provincial Government has considered this highway a joint federal and United States project. How-ever, the Province offered to maintain the entire portion of the Alaska Highway within British Columbia, provided the other governments would pay the f u l l costs of paving and improving I t . ^3 This proposal was unacceptable to both the federal government and the United States as of January, 1972. In general, the Provincial Department-., of Highways has not ut i l i s e d i t s f u l l potential to help develop the northern and central interior of the province. However, this i s probably as a result of i t s "t r a f f i c builds roads" policy. This part of the province simply does not have the popula-tion to generate the t r a f f i c required for the road construction or improve-ments on this basis. 2 ^ At-the end of 1971, this part of British Columbia was connected to the rest of the province by only one road: the Cariboo Highway. Internal to the northern and central interior was only the most rudimentary and minimal system. Perhaps as the population increases and tourism develops in proportion to other parts of the province, the high-way system will improve. Provincial Forest Service There was no apparent evidence of a close operating coordination between the PGE and the Forest Service of the Provincial Department of Lands, Forests, and Water Resources as of 1971. However, policy decisions of one greatly affected physical operations of the other. The PGE originated a total freight tonnage of 4,505,336 in 1970. Of this, wood pulp represented 315,723 tons, lumber was 1,545,513 tons, veneer was 214,420 tons, 'pulpwood chips were 1,244,059 tons, and logs were 288^ 851 tons or a total of 3,608,566 tons in these forest products alone.2 In 1970 therefore, 80% of the tonnage originated on the PGE wasirepresen-ted by the forests products industry. Figure 3 indicates how the forest products tonnage has changed .in the years 1950-1970. Appendix III is a full statement of the tonnage' shipped by the PGE between 1950 and 1970. The PGE has been a direct stimulus of the forest products industry in the northern and central interior of British Columbia. This has been, especially true since 1956. In that year, the combination of the rail extension into North Vancouver and the second Sloan Report appeared to foster forestry development in the interior. Both the first and second Sloan Report established the sustained yield principle in the Forest Ser-vice. "The extensive forests of the interior offered the only apparent opportunity for expansion within the sustained yield framework...The more accessible forest areas of the interior (i.e. close to the exis-ting railways) were rapidly opened up to timber sales." - ^ "Most of the production came from small portable mills which set up on or near a timber sale, trucking rough green or air-dried lumber from this 'bush mill1 to a central yard on the railroad for further finishing and shipment..;In spite-of the expansion at the 'extensive margin' of forest production in B.C., intensive pressures continued to mount in crowded parts of the coastal region, and soon began to develop in the more accessible areas of the interior. Cut-throad com-petition in public timber auctions became a major issue in the 1956 Sloan Commission Hearings...In some subregions of the coast and the interior, established and incoming capacity in the Industry exceeded timber supply under current knowledge and a sustained yield constraint The sustained yield principle of the Forest Service was still figure 3: „Annual PGE 4^ 1951 - 1970 LEGEND Total, All Freight Lumber — Pulpwood Chips + - + - + Logs • • « » . o . . . • Veneer" ... ; ... Woodpulp I H l + l + l I I I I i-f-H Railroad Ties Source: DBS, 52 - 211 •51 '-53 '55 -Si-applied in 1971. About 60% of the province was -"forested" in 1970—a total of I38 million acreas supporting 268J. 6 b i l l i o n cubic feet of mature timber. 95% of the forest land was publicly owned in 1971. Under the sustained yield principle, most of the provincial forest land has been organized in Public Sustained-Yield Units. The map on the succeeding page indicates the delineation of these units in 1971. 1'There are at present 78 such units coverihg;over 80 million acres, and several more are being planned in the northern regions where inven-tory work continues-. Each PSYU i s managed by the Forest Service as a self-contained sustained-yield unit.. Mature timber of commerical value is sold to private- companies or individuals by tender or auction as timber sales and, now more normally, by timber sale harvesting licenses (TSHL) (in 1971)." 2 8 -"Timber scaled in the Province in 1970 amounted to 1.95 b i l l i o n cubic feet. The coastal region accounted for 1.01 b i l l i o n cubic feet and the Interior region (including Prince George, Kamloops, and Nelson forest d i s t r i c t s ) 936 million cubic feet. The volume scaled in 1970 was 57 percent of the potential annual allowable cut of 3*4 b i l l i o n cubic feet as calculated by the Forest Service." "When a current Timber Sale is logged, the quota-holder who must risk the replacement of i t t c p u b l i c competition can ask for sealed-tender protection. This means that i f anyone else submits a higher sealed bid, the original applicant has the right to match that bid and -so protect his quota...In 1965, a non-refundable bidding fee of approximately five percent of the value of a Timber Sale was required of each bidder. This put a serious burden on unsuccessful bidders (particularly as the size of sale was increasing), and virt u a l l y elim-inated competition at Timber Sale auctions."^ "An objective of improving the structure of the 'independent' seg-ment of the industry.was also involved from an early stage. It was hoped that stability of wood supply could attract capital to indepen-dent logging and sawmilling as ..well as to integrated pulp development. With future cutting rights affixed as a tradeable part of Timber Sales, small loggers and millers could merge or s e l l out to each other to create a viable timber source for a larger, more efficient operation." *'~ "Once the broad constraint of resource preservation had been estab-lished and institutionalized by the sustained yield framework, the B.C. Forest Service turned further attention to resource u t i l i z a t i o n . Reducing 'waste' in B.C. logging operation became a major goal of pub-l i c forest policy. Utilization of lower grade wood necessarily invol-ved further development of pulp production in B.C., particularly in the Interior where there had been no pulp development u n t i l the I960's." 3 2 The further or "close" u t i l i z a t i o n of the waste policy of the Forest Service involved an incentive programme. "To encourage the operator to go to 'close-u', he was offered a one-third increase over his basic quota i f he removed his Vclose-u' volume, and i f he had a barker and chip-per. '^ 3' An additional dividend, "third band" wood, was also offered in -33-1970. "To obtain 'third band' wood, certain ground rules have been estab-lished: (l) Any chips generated from 'third-band' wood may be directed to a specified pulp-mill on a first^refusal basis. • (2) If a licensee fails to perform, the right is reserved, to take his share of the 'third-band* wood away from him and include _it in a pulp timber sale to a pulp-mill or pro-rate the volume to operators who perform to the accepted standard. The pulp-mill must first prove i t requires the additional timber made available." Pulpwood Harvesting Areas (PHA) have been established by the Forest Service. These areas allocate cutting rights to a pulp company for small diameter trees unsuitable for sawmill waste. The cutting and salvage rights may be allocated for one or more PSYlil to a single pulp mill.-However, "a pulp company with a PHA was prohibited from competing for sawlogs at timber sales in the sustained yield units covered by its puipwood area. Such a company was also required to purchase chips offered by local producers wherever 'economically feasible'". Under the forest management policies that have evolved to 1972, much local competition has disappeared. In essence, the industry has become a single supplier on the world, or more precisly, the Japanese and North American markets. Companies no longer seem to bid against each other. Rather, each company produces an almost fixed quantity of timber (annual allowable cuts do not offer much margin). Each company thus be.comes an increment to a total British Columbia supply in a closed, sys-tem. If a given company wishes to expand its sHare, i t must buy out com-panies already having timber licenses. "Many small mills amalgamated or sold out to larger sawmills. This created additional capacity in units large enough to justify investment in waste-refining equipment. It also created larger blocks of single-control cutting rights, opening the prospect of scale economies through improved forest planning, and more capital-intensive logging methods. Several of these growing sawmilling com-panies took on a pulp partner or were absorbed by a pulp company, thus forming integrated jpulti-product firms-in the interior similar to those on the coast."^ As the PGE has expanded, i t has also allowed access into a forested part of the;province with the least developed forest economy. In effect, the PGE has increased the British Columbia forests products production by increasing supply by establishing access into areas previously outside the organised sustained yield units. The only foreseeable difficulty may be that the timber licenses must be purchased. Once purchased, timber licen-ses require the buyer to harvest in order to make any profit. But when -34-the forest products market comes saturated, perhaps due to a recession, timber license holders must still harvest a specific stumpage of timber within the five years of the license. / Planning Implications ^ An objective of concern is that of provincial autonomy.i{^ kt the time Mr. Bennett became Premier of British Columbia in 1952, the province was not united either economically or politically. An example of this lack of central focus was communication. In the years since 1952, the PGE has been used as a means to incorporate first Prince George, then the Peace River Block, and finally the more northerly extr:emeslihto-the?ecoiaomic sphere of the Lower Mainland.The economic and social focus of the north-ern and central interior has been divorced from, the pre-1956 Alberta and federal economic influences. i<,if^1' The first step to achieve this realignment has been solidly econo-mic. The PGE's tracks have provided 1) access to a new source of natural resources, 2) a cheaper means to move local products, and 3) a visual indic-ation of the Provincial interest other than through taxation. The fact that it has been a Social-Credit government which has provided this ser-vice has not been lost on voting residents served by the PGE. Bitter memories recall the inactivity of by-gone governments. Local chambers of commerce have always been loud self-promoters awaiting the opportunity to justify perceived economic benefits If only given'the chance. The PGE Is'^'^L just that chance. c I But the Provincial Government is more sophisticated. It appears that after the PGE has gone in to spur local economic growth, the now swollen population has soon outstripped the supply of services./* Quiet communities are those which have slowly got to the point where the only service needs are of maintenance. When new people and businesses move in, the supply of the once satisfactory services is depleted. Not only is it a matter of expanding.those services that exist but also of elevating the level of services. Perhaps the old volunteer fire department must be replaced by a professionally staffed one. Intersections once served by stop signs now need stop lights. Housing,densities may force abandonment of septic tanks in favor of sewers. Unpaved streets now have to be paved. So it goes 'on. /^ Invariably, it all costs money—more than the revenues from a single year's taxes. By borrowing in the name, of the Province, communities became indebted to the Province, thus making them more-respon--35-sive to the Provincial Government's suggestions. The Province may step in.to help by establishing the main street through town as part of the Provincial highways system. The cost of paving the street passes from local responsibility to the Department of Highways. This is a benefit which gives the appearance that once again the Province is a benefactor.^ ) In addition, paved highways provide both access and egress. Access is important ih that it promotes tourists and Pro trucks. Egress is important in that it allows residents in isolated communities to escape to large centres for shopping and entertainment. Perhaps the latest step of the local government reliance upon the Provincial Government involves B.C. Hydro. Much of the power generation in the province has become the responsibility of this Provincial Crown -corporation. In addition, B.C. Hydro has .provided first, employment, and then, recreation opportunities (and hence" service employment) with its hydroelectric dam projects. • . ' Footnotes 1. VBtlGinin 'Diamond Necklace' Bauble with New Sparkle", Financial Post. November 17, 1956. 2. James K. Nesbitt, '"PGE Bond Selling 'Just Plain Force'". Vancouver Sun. January 14, I960. 3. . Department of Finance, Government of,British Columbia, British Columbia. Financial and Economic Review. (Victoria: Queen's Printer, 1971), pp. 9-11. 4. K.G. Denike, The Role of Transportation Investment in Economic Develop- ment: British Columbia. (Vancouver:Centre for Transportation Studies, University of British Columbia,, 1972)y=pp. 9-11.' 5. Correspondence received for the purpose of this thesis. 6. PGE correspondence dated December 16, 1971. 7. Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce, Economics and Statistics Branch, The Cariboo-Chilcotin Region. (Victoria: Queen's Printer, 1969), p. 76. 8. H.L. Purdy, "Transportation Competition and Public Policy in Canada", (unpublished manuscript, University of British Columbia, 1972), p. 210. 9. G.L. Ritchie, Chief of Real Estate and Industrial Development, and R.W. Young, Research Analyst, PGE, interview of December 1, 1971. 10. , Ibid. 11. Ibid. 12. Ibid. 13. Correspondence, Op. Cit. 14. G.L. Ritchie and R.W. Young, Op. Cit. 15. "PGE Pictured as 'Road to Ruin'", Vancouver Sun; February 9, 1965. - 3 6 -1 6 . . John C.„ Dawson, Northeastern British Columbia - An Economic Study. (Vancouver: B.C. Hydro and Power Authority, 1971 ) , p. 5 4 . 1 7 . Department of Finance, Op. Cit.. p. 2 1 . 18. Pacific Great Eastern Railway, Pacific Great Eastern Railway Annual Report. 1970. (Vancouver: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, 1 9 7 0 ) , p. 4 . 1 9 . F. Friedel, Railway Engineer, B.C. Hydro and Power Authority, con-versation in February, 1972. 2 0 . E.B. Wilkens, Chief Planning Engineer, Department of Highways, inter-view in January,.1972. 2 1 . Ibid. ' 2 2 ; Department of Finance. Op. Cit.. pp. 5 9 - 6 0 . 2 3 . ' E.B. Wilkens, Op. Cit. 24. Ibid. 25. PGE correspondence, Op. Cit. 2 6 . George S. Nagle, Economics arid Public Policy in the Forestry Sector of British Columbia. (New Haven: Doctoral Dissertation, 1970 ) , p. 5 4 . 2 7 . Ibid. 28. Forest Service, Department of Lands, Forests, and Water Resources, Information Division, Sustained Yield from British Columbia's Forest Lands. (Victoria: Queen's Printer, 1 9 7 1 ) , p. 10 . 29. Department of Finance, Op. Cit.. pp. 42 -43* 30 . George S. Nagle, Op. Cit.. p. 5 9 - 6 0 . 3 1 . Ibid.. p. 6 3 . 32 . Ibid., p. 6 3 . 3 3 . Forest Service, Department of Lands, Forests, and Water Resources, Information Division, The Forests of British Columbia. (Victoria: Queen's Printer,. 1 9 7 1 ) , p. 4 . 34. Ibid.. p. 5 . 3 5 . George S. Nagle, Op. Cit.. p. 70 . 36 . Ibid., p. 71 . -37--38-The Squamish-Cariboo region, for the purposes of this dissertation, is defined as that area along the route of the Pacific Great Eastern main line from Squamish to, but not including, Prince George. While the immed-iate effect of the line is confined to the area within about five miles of the r a i l line, the communities discussed generally represent the economic foci of the entire central interior of British Columbia. The Squamish-Cariboo region represents the area that has been long-est served by the PGE. The stretch from Squamish to Quesnel was in service in the early 1920*s. The next addition in this region, the extension to Prince George, was completed in 1952. However, this thesis will not attempt to determine the impact of the PGE upon the communities and the economy of this region prior to 1952. Instead, the investigation will be confined to the effects of the PGE extensions upon the Squamish-Cariboo region. The topography of this region can be divided into four readily identifiable subregions. From the shores of Howe Sound inland almost to Lillooet, a distance of about 100 miles, are the Coast Mountains. These mountains.are extremely steep—sheer in many places—and are formidably difficult to penetrate on land. A paved road, which becomes gravel at Pemberton, enters the mountains along a valley from Squamish. The PGE also follows this route. At the end of 1971, the road between Pemberton and Lillooet was suitable only for use by the stoutest four-wheel drive vehicles. The area immediately west of Lillooet and north to Clinton, for the most part, is comprised of steep h i l l s . The Fraser River has cut deeply into the landscape, almost becoming a canyon. Due to the nature of the Coast Mountains, the area including Lillooet and Clinton is cast in a rain shadow and is semi-arid. The Cariboo, an area of low rolling hills between 2,000 and 4,000 foot elevations and east of the Fraser River, begins near Clinton and broadens to north of Williams Lake. From there north almost to Prince George, the land roughens into steeper h i l l s . These form the foothills of the low altitude Columbia Mountains which are only 80 miles east of Quesnel. The area west of 100 Mile House and Williams Lake, generally known as the Ghilcotin, is drier than the Cariboo due to the orographic effect upon the clouds as they approach the Columbia Mountains. The Squamish-Cariboo is one of the most historic regions of British Columbia, in terms of western, civilisation. Parts of this region have been the occasions of serveral gold rushes beginning in the 1850's. As a result -39-of these gold rushes, some of the communities throughout the region have a relatively long history. Because of the very nature of gold rushes, the populations of these communities have varied greatly. However, as the importance of gold decreased, the communities have sought other industries as their economic mainstays. These industries generally have been beef cattle ranching, logging and sawmilling, and mining. Squamish The economic focus of Squamish has changed several times since 1945. Until 1956, Squamish was the southern terminus of the PGE. Freight destined for Vancouver was transshipped by rail-barge. Therefore, a significant per-centage of the village's population was employed either in the Squamish repair shops of the PGE, or as a direct result of the railway's activities."'" The population of Squamish was 589 in 1951• In 1956, the PGE r a i l extension along Howe Sound to North Vancouver was completed. This construction, together with the additional freight which resulted from the extension of the PGE to Prince George, appeared to be the principal causes of the increase in the population of Squamish in 1956 to 1,292. It is interesting to note that the 1961 population of Squamish increased to only 1,557, in spite of the increase in the area of the incorp-orated village. In 1958, a paved highway parallel to the PGE track along Howe Sound was completed and connected Squamish with the Lower Mainland. The 1961 census indicated 593 persons in the Squamish labour force, of which 130 were craftsmen, 78 were managerial, 72 were service or recreation employed, 65 were transportation or communications employed, 56 were loggers and related, 54 were clerical, and professional and technical employees were 5 3 . 2 The time between 1956 and 1966 was one of transition. By 1966, the economic focus had been reoriented, away from the direct relation with the PGE. In 1962, a large sawmill operated by the Empire Mills (Weldwood of Canada) opened. MacMillan Bloedel opened logging and sawmill operation in 1964. The next year, Ocean Cement constructed a mixing plant in Squamish. FMC Chemicals began the production of chlorine and caustic soda also in 1965. With the exception of those of Ocean Cement, each of the above opera-tions was related to the expansion of the forest products industry; chlorine and caustic soda are necessary to the processing of pulp and paper. The location of FMC Chemicals at Squamish probably was in part due to the estab--40-lishment of a pulp and paper industry in Prince George. The access to Prince George and the central interior offered by the PGE, combined with the cheaper cost of bulk water transportation for raw resources, appeared to be likely site determinants. The combination of these new secondary manufacturing industries and the incorporation of Squamish as a district municipality helped to raise the population to 4,240. By 1971, that pop-ulation had increased to 6,103. The carloadings of the Pacific Great Eastern at Squamish for the years, 1966 and 1968-1970, help to reveal the economic foci of the commun-ity. Table 5 is the l i s t of these carloadings. It should be noted that carloading listings throughout this thesis represent the commodities loaded. Table 5: Commodity Carloadings at Squamish. 1966. 1968-1970 Commodity 1966 1968 1969 1970 Other Grain, Domestic 0 0 1 0 Other Mine Products (non-metallic) 0 59 19 0 Logs 1527 213 245 5 Machinery & Parts 10 21 15 26 Gasoline 0 0 0 5 Autos, Trucks, & Parts 0 0 4 0 Scrap & Waste Metals 3 6 0 2 Chemicals & Acids 363 391 222 127 Miscellaneous 18 5 5 4 Piggyback 0 0 1 0 Merchandise, L.C.L. 107 222 121 _71 Totals 2028 917 633 247 Source: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, unpublished records. Table 5 shows a significant decline in the number of carloads handled at Squamish. A l l sectors identified in 1966, except Machinery and Parts, show declines to 1970. There may be two reasons for these declines. The fi r s t may be a development of truck and water transportation to Vancouver. The second may be the gradual extension of the Vancouver metro-politan area to include Squamish within its services sphere. In a letter to the Squamish Council in late 1971, the Mayor of Squamish implied concern for the safeguard of environmental quality. This concern appeared to be directly related to his recognition of the potential of Squamish for recreation-directed industries. Mayor P.J. Brennan did not criticise those industries already located in Squamish for their attitudes towards environmental quality. He just did not want the situation to worsen. Mayor Brennan stated: -41-" I t i s my view that continuous i n d u s t r i a l expansion of a town i s not necessarily the best thing that could happen to i t . We have industries here now and we have i n d u s t r i a l problems, but they are small compared to the number of i n d u s t r i a l p o l l u t i o n problems we w i l l have i f we follow t h i s present trend of encouraging only heavy industry to locate here. . ." "I f e e l that the time to make a study i s NOW. I f e e l we should closely adjudicate what type of industry we wish to a t t r a c t into our area. We may f i n d , when we look at the personnel employed and the assessments gained by the municipality on something such as a resort hotel as compared to a pulp m i l l , that we were better off i n the long run to encourage recreational oriented industries from now on rather than lose the recreational potential of the valley with short-sighted s e l l i n g out of a l l our resources to heavy industry." "In closing I wish to state that I am not recommending the elim-ination of e x i s t i n g industry but I do f e e l that what i s here now should be cleaned up as much as possible. I am not i n favour of eliminating the docks as they too can be constructed i n such a way as to be not harmful to the recreational potential of our valley-; However, what I am saying i s that future heavy industry must be screened c a r e f u l l y and inevitably SOME FORMS OF INDUSTRY WILL BE PROHIBITED." The implications of the P a c i f i c Great Eastern Railway upon l o c a l and regional planning centred on Squamish are s i g n i f i c a n t . At one time, the railway was the primary economic stimulus of the v i l l a g e . When the PGE was extended i n 1956, the effect was two-fold. On the one hand, i t began to force the l o c a l economy away from i t s direct reliance upon the PGE p a y r o l l . On the other hand, i t allowed companies, such as FMC Chemicals, to locate i n respect to i t s resources and transportation requirements and to a market i n the central i n t e r i o r which could not have reach previously. This divers-i f i c a t i o n of the l o c a l economy probably attracted people into Squamish. Then, a population base was attained s u f f i c i e n t to warrant the'highway construc-t i o n along Howe Sound which allowed a further d i v e r s i f i c a t i o n of the l o c a l economy. These are economic effects with s o c i o l o g i c a l implications. The whole character of Squamish changed i n the f i f t e e n years after 1956. The carloadings of forest products on the PGE for Squamish since 1966 have declined dramatically. I f one were to depend so l e l y upon Table 5 as an indication of the economic well-being of Squamish, obvious deduction would one of economic depression. Secondary industries as exemplified i n chem-i c a l s did not even improve. However, the PGE carloadings cannot provide a picture of the personal services sector i n Squamish. I t hardly seems l i k e l y that Squamish could have such population increases and also have the l o c a l economy deflate so d r a s t i c a l l y as implied from the PGE carloadings. -42-One can only surmise that there must have been an increase in the personal service sector. Perhaps some strains upon Mayor P.J. Brennan's plans to convert Squamish into a recreation centre may yet be provided by the PGE. As of early 1972, the PGE was undergoing a f e a s i b i l i t y study for the (establish-ment of a coal unit train service from near Chetwynd in the Peace River 5 region to terminate at a bulk-loading deep sea terminal at Squamish. The study included research not only as to the volume and quality of coal near Chetwynd but also as to the possibility of attracting complementary bulk-loading f a c i l i t i e s to Squamish to handle copper concentrates and forest pro-ducts, among other commodities. Such a terminal at Squamish would eliminate the. need to ship large volumes of coal through the Vancouver metropolitan area to the Roberts Bank super-port. The terminal would be able to handle the potentially large volumes of mineral concentrates from the areas served by the Dease Lake extension. However, such a terminal would be directly against Mayor Brennan plans for a recreation oriented resource. The volume of coal from the Peace River region alone did not appear to be economically sufficient to warrant the deep sea port. Deep water f a c i l i t i e s located only f i f t y miles further south at North Vancouver were thought to be either adequate in 1971 or expandable to become adequate to handle the volumes of resources from the British Columbia central and northern interior.^ Pemberton The village of Pemberton i s located in the heart of an agricult-urally f e r t i l e valley. The village was incorporated about 1956; at that time, i t had a population of 125. In 1961, the population increased to 181, but the census years of 1966 and 1971 showed population drops to 172 and then 159, respectively. Pemberton and Squamish have had a close association as land access to Pemberton could only be achieved via a paved road from Squamish in n 1971. This road access was paved only in 1965. A dirt continuation of this road parallels the PGE tracks to Lillooet. Table 6 indicates some overall correlation between the PGE carloadings at Pemberton and the village decrease in population since 1966. -43-Table 6: Commodity Carloadings at Pemberton. 1966. 1968-1970 Commodity 1966 . 1968 1969 1970 Wheat, Export 0 1 0 0 Other Grain, Domestic 0 - 3 - 0 0 Grain Products 0 1 0 0 Vegetables 77 18 45 13 Other Agricultural Products 0 0 0 3 Livestock 0 2 0 0 logs 2805 1825 2173 1498 Lumber & Veneer, destined to east 67 17 9 15 Lumber & Veneer, Export 0 1 31 8 Other Forest Products 1 1 5 3 Machinery & Parts 11 23 22 24 Gasoline 0 2 0 0 Agricultural Implements 3 1 1 5 Autos, Trucks, & Parts Scrap & Waste Metals 0 0 3 0 5 0 0 0 Chemicals & Acids 0 3 0 0 Miscellaneous 0 0 - 2 4 Merchandise, L.C.L. 67 49 31 28 Totals 3036 1947 2323 1601 Source: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, unpublished records. The carloadings at Pemberton exhibited characteristics similar to no others examined in this thesis. With the exception of Machinery and Parts, every commodity shows a general decrease in movement via the PGE. When carloadings of lumber and veneer destined for eastern rails showed a decline in other places of loading along the PGE route, carloadings of woodchips destined for British Columbia usually increased. However, the carloadings at Pemberton are non-existent. The author can offer no explan-ation for this occurrence. Lillooet The village of Lillooet is located on the Fraser River which even-tually flows into the Strait of Georgia at Vancouver. While the PGE connected Lillooet with Squamish (a distance of about 120 miles), there was no other commercially usable land transportation link with the coast in 1971. A forty mile paved highway connects the village of Lillooet with Lytton, served by the Canadian National system, the Canadian Pacific Rail-way, and the Trans-Canada Highway. A gravel road parallels the PGE to Clinton, 60 miles to the northeast. The population of Lillooet increased significantly from 469 in 1951 to 1,083 in 1956. Part of the cause for this increase was an enlarge-ment of the area incorporated within the village. The rural population of -44-the area including Pemberton and L i l l o o e t , census subdivision 6f, increased from 4 ,693 to 5 ,677 between 1951 and 1956. However, after 1956 the popul-ation growth of L i l l o o e t slowed. The 1961 census indicated 1,304 persons i n L i l l o o e t and 6,143 persons i n the entire census subdivision 6 f . The L i l l o o e t population increased to 1,379 i n 1966 and to 1,520 i n 1971 . The 1961 census also specified the labour force i n L i l l o o e t . Of a t o t a l labour force of 445 , craftsmen represented 94 , transportation and communications employees represented 74, service and recreation was 61 , managerial employment was 56 , professional and technical employees represen-ted 4 3 , and c l e r i c a l employed 4 2 . This d i s t r i b u t i o n of employment implies that L i l l o o e t was a centre f o r the d i s t r i b u t i o n of services to the surrounding area i n 1 9 6 1 . In 1971, one of the several sawmills i n L i l l o o e t , the Commercial Lumber Company, was 8 sold to Evans Products, and American owned subsidiary. As Evans Products was buying several other timber quotas and sawmill operations i n t h i s part of B r i t i s h Columbia, hopes were f o r a more d i v e r s i f i e d forest products industry centred i n L i l l o o e t . Carloadings for the PGE at L i l l o o e t f o r the years 1966, and 1968 ^•through 1970 are l i s t e d i n Table 7. These do not correlate with the slow-down i n the rate of population growth of L i l l o o e t . Carloadings more than doubled between 1966 and 1970, while the population increased only about 1 0 * ; Table 7: Commodity Carloadings at L i l l o o e t . 1966. 1968-1970" Commodity 1966 1968 1969 1970 F r u i t 5 5 2 2 Other A g r i c u l t u r a l Products 0 0 1 0 Livestock 0 3 0 0 Logs 8 381 .565 607 Lumber & Veneer, destined to east 344 278 214 267 Lumber & Veneer, Export 0 0 0 29 Lumber & Veneer, for B.C. 0.: 0 1 8 Woodchips 4 5 22 6 Woodchips to B.C. 2 0 52 86 Machinery & Parts 9 19 23 65 Beverages 0 1 •< 1 0 Canned & Packed Food Products 0 0 1 0 Sugar 0 0 0 1 A g r i c u l t u r a l Implements 0 0 3 0 Autos, Trucks, & Parts 1 0 5 0 Scrap & Waste Metals 0 0 4 4 Miscellaneous 33 4 4 4 Merchandise, L.C.L. 77 I83 95 48 Totals 483 879 993 1127 Source: P a c i f i c Great Eastern Railway, unpublished records. The predominance of forest products in the carloadings outlines the economic orientation of the village. It is interesting to note the increasing carloadings of logs, perhaps an indication of the inability of the local forest products industry to create a more valuable product through further processing. In addition, attempts at local economic div-ersification, as identified by the shipments of fruit and livestock, do not appear to have succeeded in Lillooet. South Cariboo The area of the south Cariboo lies between Clinton and Lac la Hache, a total distance of about sixty miles, with 100 Mile House about forty miles northeast of Clinton. Clinton is on the Cariboo Highway, a well paved road that stretches between the Trans-Canada Highway at Cache Highway and the PGE help to provide access for the forest operations in the Cariboo. There are numerous settlements centred about the logging operations; these include Lone Butte and Canim Lake. A common arrangement in this area is for the saw-mills in such places as Lone Butte and Canim Lake to ship their production 9 from sidings of other companies situated along the PGE right-of-way. The commodity carloadings of Table 8 show a decreasing percentage of log shipments offset by increasing shipments of processed forest products. Table 8: Commodity Carloadings at 100 Mile House. 1966. 1968-1970 Commodity 1966 1968 1969 1970 Other Grain, Domestic 0 0 0 1 Non-ferrous Ores & Concentrates 48 35 40 30 Logs 827 453 762 106 Lumber & Veneer, destined to east 2579 2392 2899 3221 Lumber & Veneer, Export 80 17 28 38 Lumber & Veneer, for B.C. 44 80 78 57 Pulpwood 0 0 0 1 Woodchips', 0 6 0 0 Woodchips to B.C. 1091 1769 1966 2054 Other Forest Products 5 3 5 0 Manufactured Iron & Steel Products 3 0 0 1 Machinery & Parts 18 7 0 5 Gasoline 0 0 8 0 Fuel & Road Oils 5 0 0 0 Autos, Trucks, & Parts 1. 0 0 0 Miscellaneous 1 2 0 0 Piggyback 0 0 1 0 Merchandise, L.C.L. 6 4 5 0 Totals 3036 4768 5792 5514 Source: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, unpublished records. The population in the south Cariboo has increased substantially since 1951. However, the populations"do not appear to bear any relation to -46-the extensions of the PGE. Prior to 1961, 100 Mile House was the only-incorporated community in the south Cariboo. In 1951, census subdiv-ision 6e, centred upon 100 Mile House, had a population of 3,180. It increased to 5,929 in 1956 and to 7 , 0 3 6 by 1961. In 1961, the popul-ation of Clinton was 1,011 and 100 Mile House was 537. However, Clinton's population decreased to 9 8 3 in 1966 and to 888 in 1971. . On the other hand, the population of 100 Mile House increased to 829 in 1966 and to 1,102 i n 1971. The diversification of the shipments was l i t t l e . The source of the non-ferrous ores and concentrates was l i k e l y to be the Norada Boss Mountain Mine, located 57 miles by road northeast of 100 Mile House; this operation mines molybdeum. Responses from several sawmills in the south Cariboo area made two major contributions to the explanation of the above.data. The destination of the woodchips was primarily the pulp mills in Prince George. This t r a f f i c would seem to indicate that the PGE extension to Prince George offered this part of the Cariboo the opportunity to expand a segment of the forest products industry that would have perhaps remained undeveloped otherwise. In ,1971, there were no pulp mills on the PGE right-of-way. The responses of sawmills located adjacent to the PGE stated that these operations either shipped a great deal or a l l of their lumber produc-tion by truck. Unfortunately, no indication of the truck destinations was given. A guess of the trucking destination would be the r a i l sidings of the C.N. and the C.P.R. These sidings are about 70 miles to the south at Ashcroft.. Assuming the f i n a l destinations of the lumber were in Ontario or the eastern United States, such trucking would save both time and money. Shipments via the-PGE would have to be hauled about 200 miles to either Vancouver or Prince George. " The cost of trucking to Ashcroft probably i s cheaper than the r a i l rate to Prince George and certainly cheaper than the r a i l rate to Vancouver plus the higher r a i l freight fate from Vancouver than from Ashcroft. Williams Lake Williams Lake was the second largest urban place in the Cariboo i n 1971. This town increased i n population consistently since 1951 when i t was 913« In 1956, the population nearly doubled to 1,790. The census of 1961 indicated a population of 2,120. Five years and a new plywood plant later, the population rose to 3,167 and in 1971 i t was 4,071. Thus, in -47-twenty years, the population of ..Williams Lake more than quadrupled which included several corporate annexations. The 1961 labour force was 929. This included 172 craftsmen, 141 clerical, 125 managerial, and 109 in service and recreation. There was a rather even distribution of employment.at about 90 employees among the other sectors. Table 9 seems to indicate a general leveling off of the forest products shipments since 1968 in the Williams Lake area. While woodchips shipments were on the increase, lumber and veneer shipments were on the decline. The only other obvious local economic indicator, live-stock shipments, showed a steady decrease. Table 9: Commodity Carloadings at Williams Lake. 1966. 1968-1970 Commodity 1966 1968 1969 1970 Other Grain, Domestic 1 0 0 0 Vegetables 0 0 1 0 Livestock 63 35 27 13 Other Mine Products (non-metallic) 1 0 0 0 Logs 0 8 34 108 Lumber & Veneer, destined to east 6214 8O33 7151 7141 Lumber & Veneer, Export 4 0 2 16 Lumber & Veneer, for B.C. 94 0 31 9 Pulpwood 2 0 0 0 Woodchips to B.C. 2143 4107 4174 4900 Other Forest Products 2 4 0 0 Iron & Steel 0 0 0 1 Manufactured Iron & Steel Prodiacts 0 0 0 1 Machinery & Parts 14 16 7 3 Fuel & Road Oils 0 0 0 2 Miscellaneous 16 3 3 7 Piggyback 6 58 0 0 Merchandise, L.C.L. 9 15 1 2 Totals 8570 12279 11431 12203 Source: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, unpublished records. Respondants to the correspondence initiated for the purpose of this thesis assisted in the defining of the offered data in Table 9. The lumber and veneer produced in this area, unlike that of just a few miles to the south, was almost entirely transported by the PGE. The most likely (at least 85%) destination of the lumber was in the United States with a small proportion destined for Ontario. The entire woodchips production was shipped to. Prince George. At McLeese Lake, about 25 miles north of Williams Lake, Gibraltar Mines (a joint operation of Cominco and a Japanese enterprise) began oper-ation??in late 1971. This copper mine was expected to provide new employment -48-in the area as well as new freight to the PGE. Quesnel Quesnel was the largest corporate place in the Cariboo in 1971. While it was incorporated in 1928, its population in 1951 was 1,587. After a corporate boundary expansion and some expansion to existing saw-mills, the population of Quesnel was 4,384 in 1956. In 1961, a new dry kiln was the only industrial expansion identified in five years; that year the population of Quesnel was 4,673. By 1966, after more than $2,400,000 spent for a new sawmill, sawmill modernization, and plywood production expansion, the population of Quesnel rose to 5,725. In 1971, the population increased to 6,"224. The 1961 population of census subdiv-ision 8c and 8d, including Williams Lake and Quesnel, was 21,392—more than double that of 1951 for the same area. The 1951 labour force in Quesnel was 723. In 1961, this increased to 1,775. Of this number, craftsmen represented 456; service and recrea-tion employment was 216 as was that of the managerial sector; the clerical sector employed 191; professional and technical employment was 169; loggers and related employees were 76. The commodity carloadings listed in Table 10 showed many of the same inclinations as those of Williams Lake. The growth of woodchips ship-ments was substantial. In addition, there was a slight trend towards increased, shipments of logs for the years after 1968. Like Williams Lake, the amount of merchandise',- L.C.L. showed a consistent decrease. This may be an indication of an expansion of the trucking mode with the steady growth in population in this area. The economic characteristics of the Cariboo appear to change at about Lac la Hache. South of that settlement, the forest products industry does not rely as much upon the PGE as those same industry companies to the north. Perhaps this may be due to the transportation choice available to the south Cariboo that distance-associated costs eliminate for Williams Lake and Quesnel. In the same, instance, the market for the forest products 12 is identical—the eastern and central United States. The highway connec-tion to Ashcroft is nearer that destination than the PGE terminus of North Vancouver. The PGE rail extension to North Vancouver did not seem to have any effect upon the production distribution from the Cariboo. However, it may -49-Table 10: Commodity Carloadings at Quesnel. 1966. 1968-1970 Commodity 1966 1968 1969 1970 Grain Products 0 0 0 1 Vegetables 0 0 7 2 Other Agricultural Products 0 0 2 0 Livestock 29 2 0 2 Sand & Gravel 0 1 0 0 Other Mine Products (non-metallic) 0 36 7 12 Logs 0 65 19 504 Lumber & Veneer, destined to east 6239 8009 8292 8940 Lumber & Veneer, Export 293 343 254 379 Lumber & Veneer, for B.C. 158 -97 87 52 Pulpwood 0 0 2 0 Woodchips 0 0 2 G Woodchips to B.C. 1952 3667 4279 5738 Other Forest Products 3 0 . 1 0 Manufactured Iron & Steel Products 0 1 0 0 Machinery & Parts 8 11 7 19 Gasoline 0 3 0 4 Fuel & Road Oils 0 0 0 3 Other Petroleum Products ."2 2 0 1 Woodpulp 0 11 0 14 Paper other than Newsprint 0 8. 0 3 Beverages 0 b 1 0 Autosj Trucks, & Parts 1 1 0 1 Miscellaneous 13 30 23 30 Piggyback 0 5 4 2 Merchandise, L.C.L. 29 2 0 2 Totals 8751 12296 12992 15709 Source: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, unpublished records. have had an effect upon local industrial expansion by providing fabricated needs of the Cariboo at cheaper prices. , Certainly a substantial difference in the economic development in the Cariboo was made by the r a i l extension to Prince George. This exten-sion provided a major reduction in the transportation costs from the Cariboo to its ultimate forest products markets in the United States. Correspon-dence from forest products manufacturers in the Cariboo confirm this. "The implications of the P.G.E. on regional economic development would be summed up by saying that were i t not for the mills and mines, in the area, the area would not develop. The Pacific Great Eastern is the only method of removing the produce of these operations to outside markets. Therefore, were i t not for the P.G.E. there would be no industry along its line. 1 1 However, there appears to be a common belief among the forest pro-ducts companies in the Cariboo that the extensions of the PGE beyond Prince George have had a detrimental effect upon the PGE's overall service. A typical expression of this belief was: "And as I see i t , from the service -5Q-of the P.G.E. Railway, from 1952,,to 1971 has not kept up with the Industry, from Squamish to Quesnel. Therefore, I am opposed to the P.G.E. Rails 13 going into the DeaseLake district, . . ." _ A more optimistic forest products industry representative wrote: "Though the service of the P.G.E. is not what we would call exem-plory, we must remember that it is an extremely fast growing line and any time an operation .is going through growing pains, such as it has ~done, there will be inefficiencies. We would anticipate that when it reaches, its growth potential the service will improve at that time." The industrial economic make-up of the Cariboo in 1969 was prim-arily forest products, followed by mining and ranching. The existence of the PGE did not seem to have had much effect in the diversification of the local economies. Rather, the PGE appeared to emphasize further the extrac-tive sector, particularly forest products, if the commodity carloadings are representative. However, the PGE seemed to help stimulate diversification within the forest products industry. To a certain extent, the timber cut appeared to.increase very slowly in the years 1966 through 1970, especially in the Williams Lake area. The percentage of the total carloadings represented by lumber and veneer, both from Williams Lake and from Quesnel, dropped signif-icantly from 1968 to 1970. In 1972,-Weldwood of Canada expected to complete construction of a pulp mill in Quesnel, Cariboo Pulp and Paper.^ This mill probably will change significantly the characteristics of the PGE freight from the Cariboo. While local woodchips production would no longer be expected to be shipped by rail to Prince George, the woodpulp output of this plant would be expected to be carried by the PGE. ''Also here in Quesnel, we will have a Pulp Mill in operation in 1972 and this would have been impossible without railroad transport-ation for incoming chips and outgoing pulp." "In areas where the industry is mixed, such as ranching areas, the railroad does not effect it as greatly as here in the Cariboo where,,, it is chiefly lumbering. We are wholly dependent on the railroad." As the diversification within the forest products industry from logs to lumber to woodchips has occurred, each successive sector has required a further capitalization and concentration of equipment, thus making it more stationary. While loggers are essential, their product is further refined at a collective point. This refinement process is more able to support a tertiary or service sector through longer periods of employment than the previous reliance upon mobile and seasonal logging operations. The increase of population seem to bear this out. ' . v "In the past, forest industry employment was of a highly seasonal nature. Today, there remains a period when break-up restricts the move-ment of logs to the mills, but for the most part m i l l employment i s now year-round. This has given the Cariboo-Chileotin economy a s t a b i l i t y which was previously lacking. Consequently, though milling employment is actually lower t h a ^ i t was a few years ago, the economic benefits derived are greater." The largest numerical population increases occurred between 1951 and 1956, after the PGE extension to Prince George offered an economic route to the forest products markets. The other large numberial population increases occurred between 1961 and 1966 when the 1966 PGE carloadings indicated that the industrial transition was already underway. The shift in capitalization in the forest products industry appears to have had two diverse effects i n the Cariboo. The f i r s t i s the consolid-ation of timber licences by large, non-local corporations. The Evans Pro-ducts Ltd. was consolidating timber licences and sawmills in the Lillooet and south Cariboo regions i n 1971. Lillooet appeared to be the last area to undergo the consolidation process that seemed to have emanated from Prince George and spread gradually to the south. A company with extensive holdings in the area covered i n this chapter was Weldwood of Canada. This company owned lumber and veneer plants'located in Quesnel and Canim Lake (about 20 miles east of 100 Mile House), and owned Empire Lumber of Squamish, as of 17 " December 1971. In addition, Weldwood owned a 50* share of Cariboo Pulp and Paper Co. Ltd., the company whose pulp m i l l was expected to open in 1972 18 in Quesnel. The other 50* share was owned by Japanese interests. The other effect of the capitalization within the forest products industry has been caused by the increased need for timber to sustain m i l l production. Woodchips can be produced from timber of smaller diameter than lumber, the indirect implication has been a concern for environmental quality. As smaller trees are harvested, the maturity rate for a timber cut based upon woodchips is shortened. Elected o f f i c i a l s in the Cariboo have recently shown concern ;for 19 their area to develop recreation and tourist associated f a c i l i t i e s . Sub-division of lots for recreation in the south Cariboo has undergone a major increase since about 1969. This area has become a summer vacation and recreation area for many Lower Mainland residents. Perhaps, in order to maintain this outside interest, which increases the local tax base, some elected o f f i c i a l s have resorted to environment preservation. This i s not -52-to imply that many residents and elected o f f i c i a l s - o f the Cariboo have become concerned about their local" environment, merely as a means to increase property values. Rather, i t appears that most of those con-cerned with the quality of their Ideal environment are concerned with the Cariboo as their place to. l i v e . .: Footnotes 1. Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce, Economics and Statistics Branch, South Coastal Region Economic Study (Victoria: Queen's Printer, pp. 1 5 - 1 6 . 2. Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1961 Census (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1961), Series 3 . 1 , Table 14. 3. Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce, Economics and Statistics Branch, Industrial Expansion i n British Columbia by Census Divisions (Victoria: Queen's Printer). 4 . ' P.J. Brennan, Mayor of Squamish, correspondence addressed to author, dated November 22, 1971 . 5. G.L. Ritchie and R.W. Young, interview of December 1, 1971. 6. Correspondence received for the purpose of this thesis. 7. South Coast Region. Economic Study Op. Cit.. p.15. 8. ' Correspondence, Op. Cit. 9. Ibid. 10. Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce, Economics and Statistics Branch-, The Cariboo-Chilcotin Region (Victoria: Queen's Printer, 1969 ) , p. 101. 11. Ibid. 1 12. Correspondence, Op. Cit. 1 3 . Ibid. 1 4 . K. Rymer, Traffic Manager, Weldwood of Canada, interview of December, 1971. 15. Correspondence, Op. Cit. 16. Ibid. 17. K. Rymer, Op. Cit. 18. Ibid. 1 9 . E. Karlsen, Eikos Consultants, interview of December, 1971. - 5 3 --54-P r o b a b l y no o t h e r p l a c e has been a f f e c t e d as o b v i o u s l y by t h e e x t e n -s i o n s o f t he P a c i f i c G r e a t E a s t e r n R a i l w a y as P r i n c e George . P r i o r t o 1952, t h e y e a r t h a t t he PGE pushed i n t o t h e c i t y , P r i n c e George was l i t t l e more t h a n a s t o p a l o n g the Canad ian N a t i o n a l r a i l l i n e between Pr. ince Ruper t and Edmonton and o t h e r c i t i e s t o t h e e a s t . W i t h t h e a r r i v a l o f t h e PGE, P r i n c e George became a t h r e e - w a y r a i l h u b . A f o u r t h way was added i n 1956 w i t h t h e n o r t h e r n e x t e n s i o n towards the Peace R i v e r B l o c k . As t h e r o l e o f a r a i l t r a n s f e r c e n t r e p r o g r e s s e d , P r i n c e George was a b l e t o g e n -e r a t e s e c o n d a r y and t e r t i a r y i n d u s t r i e s . These i n d u s t r i e s b e n e f i t e d f r o m t h e P r o v i n c i a l h ighway c o n s t r u c t i o n programme a l s o c e n t r e d on P r i n c e G e o r g e . P r i n c e George i s l o c a t e d a t t h e c o n f l u e n c e o f t h e Nechako R i v e r f r o m t h e west and t h e F r a s e r R i v e r f r o m t h e e a s t . From t h e r e , t he F r a s e r R i v e r b e g i n s t o snake i t s way s o u t h t h r o u g h the C a r i b o o ; The c i t y i s s i t u a t e d i n a v a l l e y among r o l l i n g h i l l s ; In 1951, t he p o p u l a t i o n o f P r i n c e George was 4,703. Of t h i s number, 1,923 c o n s t i t u t e d t h e l a b o u r f o r c e . M a n a g e r i a l r e p r e s e n t e d 368 p e r s o n s : c r a f t s m e n r e p r e s e n t e d 334 p e r s o n s : t r a n s p o r t a t i o n and commun ica t ions e m p l o y -ment was 247; c l e r i c a l employment was 244; s e r v i c e s employed 227 p e r s o n s , w h i l e p r o f e s s i o n a l and t e c h n i c a l c a t e g o r i e s employed 151 p e r s o n s . . By 1956, t h e P r i n c e George p o p u l a t i o n had i n c r e a s e d t o 10,583 more t h a n d o u b l i n g t h a t o f 1951, a l t h o u g h t h e c o r p o r a t e b o u n d a r i e s o f t h e c i t y a l s o had expanded . T h i s was f o u r y e a r s a f t e r the PGE e x p a n s i o n i n t o P r i n c e G e o r g e . To 1956, most o f t h e i n d u s t r i a l e x p a n s i o n i d e n t i f i e d by the P r o v i n c i a l Department o f I n d u s t r i a l Deve lopment , T r a d e , and Commerce was i n t h e f o r m o f new d r y k i l n s and some s a w m i l l m o d e r n i z a t i o n . The John H a r t - P e a c e R i v e r Highway, a r o a d l e a d i n g n o r t h f r o m the C a r i b o o Highway and c o n n e c t i n g P r i n c e George w i t h Dawson C r e e k , was c o m p l e t e d i n 1952. P r e v i o u s l y , t h e C a r i b o o Highway t e r m i n a t e d a t P r i n c e George as d i d the N o r t h e r n T r a n s - P r o -v i n c i a l Highway t o P r i n c e R u p e r t . The 1961 p o p u l a t i o n o f P r i n c e George , i n c l u d i n g a r e a s t h a t had been 2 annexed , was 13,877. The l a b o u r f o r c e i n c r e a s e d t o 5,377. Compared t o the 1951 l a b o u r f o r c e , c r a f t s m e n r e p l a c e d m a n a g e r i a l as t h e p r i m a r y t y p e o f employment w i t h 1,217 emp loyed ; m a n a g e r i a l became second w i t h 816 emp loyed . The c l e r i c a l employment s u r p a s s e d " t h e t r a n s p o r t a t i o n and commun ica t ions employment as t he t h i r d ma jo r s e c t o r : t h e c l e r i c a l employment i n 1961 was 729 w h i l e t r a n s p o r t a t i o n and communica t ions was 418. The f o u r t h ma jo r s e c -t o r was s e r v i c e and r e c r e a t i o n w i t h a 1961 employed f o r c e o f 618, compared -55-to the 1951 employment of 227. The.fifth major sector was that of professional and technical with 539; in. 1951, this sector employed the least. ' The major industrial expansion in Prince George between 1956 and 1961 was the construction of the Cariboo Brewery ih 1957, a $1,250,000 3 investment. The Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce identified a dry kiln addition in I960 and another In 1961, along with the construction of a new sawmill: the Pas Lumber. In addition, Canada Creosoting Company constructed a.railroad tie creosoting plant that year. The 1966 census showed 24,471 persons in Prince George. The years 1965 and 1966 were extremely active for industrial expansion in Prince George.^ In 1964, the PGE began clearing 1,3&2 acres for the establishment of its industrial park. .In 1965, a $1,500,000 lumber mill modernization, expansion of two machine works of a total value of $325,000, a $300,000 concrete manufacturing plant, and a $750,000 wire and cable plant a l l were constructed. The following year, the brewery was modernized, a wire and cable warehouse was constructed, and the two pulp mills and one paper plant of Northwood Pulp and Prince George Pulp and Paper, valued at $144,000,000 were completed. In 1971, the populationdof Prince George was 32,755. This was one year after the extension of the Yellowhead Highway from Jasper, Alberta to Prince,-George. The Northern Trans-Provincial . Highway became a part of the Yellowhead Highway. To help correlate the population and industrial expansion of Prince George with the PGE, Tables IL and 12 show the PGE commodity car-loadings. These carloadings are for south and north of Prince George. Table 9 is South, representing the PGE carloads that were loaded south of the pulp-and paper complex. Table 12 is North, representing the PGE car-loadings of the Prince George area,.north of the pulp and paper complex. The commodity carloadings of Table ilLand Table 12 are similar only in respect to the heavy emphasis upon the forest products shipments. Both tables show a five year increase in the shipments of woodchips to destin-ations within British Columbia. Since there were no other pulp mills along either the PGE lines or the C.N. lines in this part of the province, i t would be expected that the entire tonnage of Woodchips to B.C. would term-inate at Prince George pulp mills. Part of this tonnage would reappear on the PGE as woodpulp and paper; the rest would be shipped via the C.N. Table 10 shows an interesting counter-trend of a decline in lumber and -56-Table II: Commodity Carloadings at Prince George. South. 1966. 1968-1970 Commodity 1966 1968 1969 1970 Other Grain, Domestic 0 0 0 6 Other Grain, Export 0 0 1 1 Grain Products 0 60 143 89 Fruit 1 0 1 0 Other Agricultural Products 0 1 4 0 Livestock 29 101 82 13 Other Animal Products (non-edible) 0 0 1 0 Non-ferrous Ores & Concentrates 0 1 0 0 Sand & Gravel 0 0 3 0 Other-Mine Products (non-metallic) 0 • 0 2 1 Sulphur 0 0 1 3 Logs 63 333 180 55 Lumber & Veneer, destined to east 5276 8948 8880 8720 Lumber & Veneer, Export 657 135 •224 626 Lumber & Veneer, for B.C. 29 101 230 124 Pulpwood 2 0 0 4 Woodchips - 0 0 0 355 Woodchips to B.C. 1581 ••'2665 3365 3471 Other Forest Products 0 0 0 11 Iron & Steel 0 0 1 4 Non-ferrous Metals • 0 4 ' 2 0 Manufactured Iron & Steel Products 7 13 14 18 Machinery & Parts 101 160 155 81 Gasoline 2 166 . 87_ 103 Fuel & Road Oils 1 81 ' 59 251 Other Petroleum Products 0 204 369 38 L.P.G., Domestic 1 0 1 1 L.P.G., Export 0 0 ' 3 0 Cement 1 1 1 10 Plaster, Lime 0 •17 1 5 Woodp'ulp 773 2866 4714 4413 Newsprint 0 0 • 0 1 Paperboard 0 4 0 0 Paper 199 1121 1391 1170 Beverages 4 3 3 0 Canned Food 1 0 0 0 Agricultural Implements 1 4 2 2 Autos,' Trucks, & Parts 10 6 7 2 Fertilizers 1 1 1 0 Scrap & Waste Metals 20 1 4 3 Chemicals & Acids 1 29-. 74 89 Miscellaneous 27 184 55 23 Piggyback . 1 293 168 64 Merchandise, L.C.L. 563 . 472 599 696 Totals, Originated on P.G.E. 9352 17975 20828 20453 Received from C.N. 1326 1181 1206 1760 Totals, All Carloadings 10678 19156 22034 22213 Source.: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, unpublished records -57-Table 12; Commodity Carloadings at Prince George. North. 1966. 1968-1970 Commodity 1966 1968 1969 I97O Sand & Gravel 0 0 161 345 Logs 5 413 14 9 Lumber & Veneer, destined to east 1377 1660 1340 695 Lumber & Veneer, .Export 43 25 75 99 Lumber & Veneer, for B.C. 1513 1722 2056 2321 Pulpwood 0 0 0 6 Woodchips 0 6 0 23 Woodchips to B,C. 115 504 - 479 906 Iron & Steel 0 0 0 2 Manufactured Iron & Steel Products 1 0 0 0 Machinery & Parts 6 8 1 2 Gasoline 0 0 1 0 Woodpulp 0 0 0 3 Paper 0 5 0 ' 5 Scrap & Waste Metals 4 0 0 1 Chemicals & Acids 0 0 0 1 Miscellaneous 0 6 0 0 Piggyback 0 0 1 0 Merchandise, L.C.L. 0 •0 0 1 Totals, Originated on P.G.E. 3064 4349 4128 4420 Received from C.N. 1 1 0 0 Totals, All Carloadings 3065 4350 4128 4420 Source: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, unpublished records. veneer shipped to eastern destinations and a reciprocal increase in the same products shipped within the province. Unfortunately, 'there is no directional indication of the commodity carloadings .available.' The responses from the companies contacted for the purpose of this thesis are able to offer some insight into the industrial, shipping about Prince George. Two of these responses indicated that their particular saw-mill operations were located along the C.N. r a i l line and had few or no 5 ' "' shipments via the PGE. These two responses imply a strong west to east movement of lumber and veneer products of companies situated along the C.N. which do not transfer to the PGE for Vancouver. This is distinct from the indications of Tables If- and T2 which show carloadings both for export and to destinations within British Columbia. The two sawmill operations which were located along the! PGE tracks, but not within the PGE Industrial Park in Prince George, both specified that at least 95% of the lumber production in 1971 was shipped to the United States, east of the Mississippi River.^ Both companies indicated that most of their production was loaded into C.N. boxcarsj this was, in part, due to the type of boxcars available from the C.N. that f i l l e d their -58-requirements. One of these companies valunteered that, " i t (the PGE) has opened up a block of timber for us which can be harvested economically, manufactured and loaded out on railhead as opposed to hauling logs an 7 uneconomical distance (50 miles) into Prince George for manufacture." In addition, Canada Wire and Cable Company responded that their operations in Prince George were suspended in the late 1960*s. Therefore, its plant and warehouse construction of 1965 and 1966 were apparently sold shortly after the completion of the construction. The two pulp and paper companies, both located on a spur of the PGE .in Prince George along the Fraser River, were extremely cooperative. "We export the f u l l production of Intercontinental pulp through the Port of Vancouver and move this tonnage via the P.G.E. We export 95 percent of our papers, and almost a l l of this moves via P.G.E. "We export about 30 percent of the; pulp from our Prince George Pulp and Paper mill, and this tonnage also moves via P.G.E. to the Port .of Vancouver. The balance of our pulp goes to the so called domestic market - Canada and the United States. On this tonnage the P.G.E. provides a switching service only, as most of this- balance moves via Canadian National Railways, who supply the r a i l cars. . In a l l , we move some 20,000 railcars per year in and out of our mills through the P.G.E." "Northwood Pulp Limited is presently producing -700 tons/day, seven "days per week. . . May I explain that a l l of our pulp for Europe, Japan, South America and like markets is shipped to. North Vancouver for ship loading. Most of our pulp for the United States and Eastern Canada leaves the P.G.E. at Prince George. There are some exceptions from time to time where cars for the CIT. Rail routes move over the P.G.E. to North Vancouver." Northwood Pulp anticipated its 1972 outbound freight to be approx-imately 11,900 carloads and inbound freight to be about 11,400 carloads. Of the outbound freight, about.2,600 carloads of woodpulp were expected to be shipped via the C.N. and the PGE would ship 1,300 carloads of woodpulp. The entire lumber production of 8,000 carloads would be shipped by the C.N. The inbound carloadings were mostly woodchips (10,800) of which the C.N. would supply 4,600 carloads and the PGE would supply 6,200 carloads. Chemicals would represent the other 600 carloads of inbound t r a f f i c — a l l to be shipped by the C.N.10 Harold Moffat, the Mayor of Prince George, offered these comments: "From my experience and reflection, the P.G.E. has been the main impetus to our growth. Although the G.T.P. and later the C.N. were here for many years prior, they did l i t t l e or nothing to stimulate growth mostly due to the rate structure that is managed from Montreal." r -59-"The P.G.E. not being an interprovineial carrier established its own rates and on its advent to Prince George cut the L.C.L. rate $ 1 . 0 0 per cwt. It also produced rates on combined haul out vs haul in and as a result, we have a rate that makes the movement^of chips possible and a profit for the P.G.E. on the haul out." . . . . . A chapter regarding Prince George would not be complete without some reference to the PGE Industrial Park. This expanse of land is located to the southeast of Prince George. Tenants of this PGE owned and developed venture are listed in Appendix III. Unfortunately, none of the companies operating in this tract land responded to the -author's letter of enquiry. Therefore., reliance must be placed on a 1 9 6 8 brochure, Industry on the Move. for reasons for the surge of industries into its industrial park. These are the following. 1 ) "Heavy emphasis on greater utilization of timber has encouraged the installation of forest product manufacturing facilities such as barkers, chippers, sawmills, and planer_mills. 2 ) "Rapid expansion in the areas of forestry, agriculture, and power has encouraged development of secondary industries including chemical plants, feed mills, and manufacturers of electrical conductors and cab-les." 3) "The growth of primary and secondary industries through the area has attracted a broad range of service industries including heavy equi-meht''a^ a"buiiding! "suppliers, general^ yjarehousing, bulk petroleum fac-ilities and a wood treatment plant." In conclusion, it is quite apparent that Prince George benefited by the PGE extension to that city. The local industry in 1 9 5 2 seemed to be based upon the forest products industry—with a collection of sawmills sim-ilar to those of the Cariboo. However, with the PGE extension into Prince George came the establishment of a transfer junction. The effect upon the traffic from the' C.N. appears to have been small as the carloadings received, shown in Table 11 and Table, 1 2 , were a rather steady quantity but a declining proportion of'the-total carloadings handled by the PGE at Prince George. If the word of Northwood Pulp is to be taken, only about 1 1 * of its inbound carloads from the C.N. would be other than woodchips. The volume of carloads anticipated from the C.N. in 1 9 7 2 by'Northwood Pulp alone ( 5 , 2 0 0 ) would be treble the carloads received from the C.N. in 1 9 7 0 . Then, perhaps with the delayed benefits to the services sector from the John Hart Highway to Dawson Creek and certainly with the new techniques developed to process, the trees characteristic of the northern0and central interior, Prince George began to grow and diversify. Virgin stands of spruce, lodgepole pine, and ..balsam. fir, the native species of trees of this part of British Columbia, grow less densely than the characteristic species of the -60-eoast (hemlock, cedar, douglas fir, and balsam fir) and are of smaller 13 diameter than the coastal species. It would appear that the PGE created a major forest products man-ufacturing centre in Prince George. Lumber and veneer of the central and northern interior are reduced from bulky logs near their source and are shipped through Prince George without any value added there. However, with the advent of chippers and barkers as well as the post World War 11-'demand for most forest products, the use of the smaller diameter spruce and lodge-pole pine developed."^ Due to the large resource requirement for the economic production'of woodpulp and paper, a more centralised location for the processing was necessary. The location.determinants for this central-ising process were aided by the Japanese market for woodpulp and the related bulk loading export facilities that became available in North Vancouver in I960. The existing transportation network focussed upon Prince George. If the woodpulp market had been more aligned to the United States rather than Japan, perhaps the pulp mill and paper plant development at Prince George would not have occurred there. That development might have been somewhere else, perhaps to the east or in the United States. Finally, while the PGE favours forest product manufacturing tenants in its industrial park, with the further development of trunk highways, making Prince George a crossroads, more truck distribution oriented fabric-ation and processing have resulted. .This is the nature of the industries exhibited by the diverse assortment of tenants of the PGE Industrial Park at Prince George. Footnotes 1. Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1951 Census (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1951), Volume 14, Table 9. 2. Dominion Bureau of Statistics, 1961 Census (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1961), Series 3.1, Table 14. 3. Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce, Economics and Statistics Branch, Industrial Expansion in British Columbia by Census Divisions (Victoria: Queen's Printer). 4. Ibid. 5. Correspondence received for the purpose of this thesis. 6 . Ibid. 7. Ibid. 8. R.J., Renwick, General Traffic Manager, Prince George Pulp and Paper, correspondence dated December 29, 1971. -61-9. D. McKinnon, Traffic Coordinator, Northwood Pulp, correspondence dated November 30 , 1971. 10. Ibid. 1 1 . His Worship, Harold Moffat, Mayor of Prince George, correspondence dated November 8, 1971. 12 . Industry on the Move (Vancouver: Pacific Great Eastern Railway,',1968), pp. 8-9. 1 3 . Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce, Economics and Statistics Branch, Manual of Resources and Development (Victoria: Queen's Printer, 1971 ) , p. 2 0 . • 14. Ibid., p. 18. . . . . . - 6 3 -In this dissertation, the Peace River-Liard region encompased that area in British Columbia east of the Rocky Mountain Trench and northhof 5 5 ° North Latitude. In 1972, this region generally was the territory outside the Regional District but included within the scope of this chapter are the western extent of the Alaska Highway and Lower Post and the Municipal Dis-trict of Mackenzie. That part of the Regional District west of the Trench is considered in the chapter entitled, Qmineca-Stikine. The Rocky Mountain Trench is a long, narrow (about 320 miles long and 2-15 miles wide) valley in the southeast-northwest direction. Immediately to the east of and parallel to the Trench, lie the Rocky Mountains. These mountains soon become foothills as one proceeds in a northeasterly direction. Most of the Peace River-Liard is comprised of undulating, and in some places almost flat, plains. The Peace River and its tributaries flow from the Rocky Mountains through the heart of the region. The Liard River is located in the extreme north or the region, flowing from the Yukon Territory, dipping into British Columbia to thernortherly reaches of the Rocky Mountains, and then again north towards the MacKenzie River in the Northwest Territories. The Peace River-Liard was isolated from the rest of British Columbia until 1952 when the John Hart-Peace River Highway was completed, connecting Dawson Creek with Prince George. Before then, access to the region was only by way of Alberta or the Alaska Highway. The Alaska Highway, completed in 1942, was the only road access between the Yukon and Fort St. John in 1972 . From 1942, to 1952, this gravel road was the main transportation corridor connecting Lower Post, Fort Nelson, Fort St. John, Taylor, and Dawson Creek. Subsequent road improvements to the John Hart-Peace River Highway have offered alternate means of access to Fort St. John, Taylor,' and Dawson Creek. Prior to 1952, not only was road access to the Peace River-Liard available only via Alberta, but so was the rail access. The Northern Alberta Railway (N.A.R.) constructed an indirect line from Edmonton to Dawson Creek by 1931. The Pacific Great Eastern, did not enter the region until 1956 along a route parallel to the John Hart-Peace River Highway through Pine Pass. AAgreat amount of controversy existed in the Peace River Block about the selection of the route. Some region residents favoured a route via Monkman Pass which would have l) followed the C.N. along the Fraser River for about 50 miles, and 2) made Dawson Creek a three-way rail hub. However, the PGE split its line- at Chetwynd.(formerly"little Prairie), with a line following the John Hart-Peace River Highway to Dawson Creek where it meets the N.A.R., and another line north, first to Taylor and Fort St. John, .and later, in . -64-1971, extended to Fort Nelson. . Economically, there, are few other parts of British Columbia as diverse as the Peace River-Liard. Unlike most of they-province, this region has not depended upon either mining or forest products for its way of life. Rather, the entire regional economy was based, until recently, upon the production of such grains as. wheat,-barley, and oats grown in the Peace River Block, which includes Dawson Creek, Pouce Coupe, Taylor, and Fort St. John. It should be pointed out that, until recently, two factors helped to stimulate farming in .this region. The Peace River "Block is the largest single tract.of arable land in British Columbia. In addition, farming activity was encouraged by the fact that Crown land could be alienated for agricultural purposes until 1970. Mineral resources, mostly copper and related metals, have been found only in the Rocky Mountains where access was virtually nil in 1971, even with the penetration provided by Lake Williston, the artificial lake behind the W.A.C. Bennet dam. South of Chetwynd, on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, an area was reputed to contain substantial and high quality bituminous coal deposits. However, at the end of 1971, these deposits were still undergoing economic analysis to determine whether they were rich enough to sustain a PGE unit train to Squamish. The forested parts of the region to the west and north were not invent-oried by the Forest Service and put into Public Sustained Yield Units until 1 9 6 0 . ^ As of 1971, the extreme northerly reaches were still not incorporated (see map, page 3 2 ) . Therefore, it is extremely unlikely that any logging or sawmill operations existed on a commercial scale prior to I 960 . The Peace River-Liard was still the object of extensive natural gas and oil exploration in 1971. Natural gas production in and northwest of the Taylor-Fort St. John area began in 1950. However, the completion- of a natural gas pipeline to the Pacific Northwest of the United States in 1957 stimulated the large increase in production that resulted in the ensuing years.^ Exploration had moved north to the area near Fort Nelson by 1971. To complement the large liquid and gas energy resources of the region, B.C. Hydro completed the construction of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam (at Portage Mountain) on the Peace River near Hudson's Hope in 1966. As of late 1971, the hydroelectric power production of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam was 1,362 Mw., annually, with six of ten potential generators in operation.^ The effect of this dam was two-fold. One was the hydroelectric potential. The other was the water transportation access to forest and potential mineral resources - 6 5 -p r o v i d e d by t h e 680 s q u a r e m i l e a r t i f i c i a l L a k e W i l l i s t o n . W h i l e t h e n i n t h g e n e r a t o r i s e x p e c t e d to" be i n s t a l l e d a t t h e W . A . C . B e n n e t t Dam i n 1971. The u p p e r L i a r d R i v e r B a s i n , w i t h a p o t e n t i a l i n s t a l l e d h y d r o -e l e c t r i c p o t e n t i a l o f 3,690I:Mw. (690 Mw. i n e x c e s s o f t h e W . A . C . B e n n e t t n Dam), was m e n t i o n e d a s a n e x t p r o j e c t . The s i t e o f t h e dam m i g h t be u p s t r e a m o f N e l s o n F o r k s , a b o u t 50 m i l e s n o r t h w e s t o f F o r t N e l s o n . M a c k e n z i e The D i s t r i c t M u n i c i p a l i t y i s l o c a t e d o n t h e s o u t h e r n s h o r e o f Lake W i l l i s t o n . S e t t l e m e n t i n t h e a r e a b e g a n i n 1963 a s a d i r e c t r e s u l t o f two o c c u r r e n c e s : t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e W . A . C . B e n n e t t Dam w h i c h c a u s e d t h e w a t e r l e v e l t o be r a i s e d a n d t h e f o r e s t p r o d u c t s i n d u s t r y w h i c h was p r o m o t e d by B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a F o r e s t P r o d u c t s . I n t h e f i r s t c e n s u s o f M a c k e n z i e i n 1966, t h e p o p u l a t i o n was 113. The p r e l i m i n a r y 1971 c e n s u s f i g u r e s showed a p o p u l a t i o n o f 2,337. M a c k e n z i e was one o f t h e f i r s t s u c c e s s f u l " i n s t a n t t o w n s " i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . " I n s t a n t t o w n s " a r e m u n i c i p a l i t i e s whose p u b l i c i m p r o v e -ments h a v e b e e n u n d e r t a k e n by t h e p r i n c i p a l company f o r employment i n t h e m u n i c i p a l i t y . T h e s e a r e d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h e u s u a l company towns i n t h a t t h e r e may be c o m p e t i n g c o m p a n i e s o f t h e p r i n c i p a l company i n t h e " i n s t a n t t o w n " a n d t h a t t h e - " i n s t a n t t o w n " i s q u i c k l y c o n s t r u c t e d a f t e r a p l a n o f t h e town i s a c c e p t e d by t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f M u n i c i p a l A f f a i r s . I n t h e c a s e o f M a c k e n z i e , t h i s company was B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a F o r e s t P r o d u c t s ( B C F P ) . " B C F P , s i n c e 1963, h a s e m b a r k e d on a p r o g r a m o f e x p a n s i o n i n t h e N o r t h e r n I n t e r i o r a t M a c k e n z i e w h i c h i n v o l v e s a n i n t e g r a t e d f o r e s t c o m -p l e x i n c l u d i n g a s a w m i l l , a s t u d m i l l a n d a b l e a c h k r a f t p u l p m i l l . . . I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e i n d u s t r i a l o p e r a t i o n s , BCFP h a s f i n a n c e d and s p o n s o r e d d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e community o f M a c k e n z i e , w h i c h i s l o c a t e d i n an a r e a p r e v i o u s l y u n i n h a b i t e d . " The e x i s t e n c e o f M a c k e n z i e was made p o s s i b l e as a r e s u l t o f s e v e r a l Q i n t e r c o o r d i n a t e d f a c t o r s . I n t h e e a r l y I960's, BCFP a p p a r e n t l y f o r e s a w t h e s a l v a g e a n d t r a n s p o r t a t i o n b e n e f i t s f o r l o g g i n g o p e r a t i o n s r e s u l t i n g f r o m t h e l a r g e a r t i f i c i a l l a k e t o be f o r m e d b e h i n d t h e W . A . C . B e n n e t t Dam. I n 1964, h e a r i n g s w e r e h e l d by t h e ; F o r e s t S e r v i c e f o r t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f t h e F i n l a y a n d P e a c e P u b l i c S u s t a i n e d Y i e l d U n i t s , t h o s e s u r r o u n d i n g L a k e W i l l i s t o n . I t a p p e a r s t h a t a n i n t e g r a t e d a g r e e m e n t was r e a c h e d b e t w e e n BCFP a n d t h e P r o v i n c i a l G o v e r n m e n t . On i t s p a r t , t h e P r o v i n c e w o u l d 1) r a i s e t h e a l l o w a b l e a n n u a l t i m b e r c u t i n t h e F i n l a y P . S . Y . U . t o t h a t b a s e d u p o n 7 i n c h d i a m e t e r r a t h e r t h a n t h e 11 i n c h d i a m e t e r u s e d f o r o t h e r P . S . Y . U . s a n d - 6 6 -2) provide Mackenzie with a spur rail line of the PGE. BCFP would under-write a substantial forest products complex at the site of Mackenzie as well as the physical development of the community. Apparently, what land that was not committed to BCFP was granted to the PGE for its development ,10 purposes.. Evidence of the PGE involvement in the above alleged agreement was offered by BCFP. "Without the rail service the industrial and community developments of our company at Mackenzie would not have been possible.11 ^ Thus in 1971, BCFP was the largest single employer in Mackenzie. Finlay Forest Industries was the only other forest products operation in Mackenzie with a sawmill and a refiner groundwood mill. Other employers in Mackenzie were located in the 2 ,920 acre PGE industrial park. The full complement of the varied industries and companies are listed in Appendix 1 1 1 . Table lc3: Commodity Carloadings at Kennedy. 1966, 1968-1970 Commodity 1966 1968 1969 1970 Sand & Gravel 0 222 0 0 Logs 436 1189 1945 1363 Lumber & Veneer, Destined to east - 593 3536 4028 4037 Lumber & Veneer, Export 31 333 2 9 Lumber & Veneer, for B.C. 421 194 138 880 Pulpwood 80 0 2 0 Woodchips 0 497 0 0 Woodchips to B.C. 218 1172 2637 3480 Other Forest Products 2 0 0 0 Machinery & Parts 30 19 29 . 34 Fuel & Road Oils 2 0 0 0 Scrap & Waste Metals 0 0 1 0 Miscellaneous 4 5 1 0 Piggyback 0 0 3 1 Merchandise, L.C.L. 1 0 4 3 Totals 1818 7167 8790 9807 Source: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, unpublished records. Table 13 shows the commodity carloadings of the PGE at or near Kennedy. Kennedy is the junction of the 23 mile rail spur to Mackenzie with the track connecting the Peace River Block with Prince George. This spur was completed in late 1966. There was some other forest products processing activity at Kennedy in 1971 but these were insignificant compared to those-, at Mackenzie. The carloading figures of Table 13 show the impact of the BCFP and Finlay Forest Industries developments. These companies indicated in their responses to the author's letter of enquiry that about 90* of their lumber production was shipped to the United States. The vast 'proportion of these 1971 -67-shipments were via Prince George and the Canadian National, crossing the international border near Duluth, Minnesota. Less than 10% of the pro-duction was shipped to the United States by way of Vancouver. Chetwynd The village of Chetwynd was virtually the creation of the PGE in 1956. It is here where the PGE main line branches, with one fork laid to Dawson Creek, and the other laid, first to Taylor and Fort St. John, and later to Fort Nelson. As a result of this junction, Chetwynd became the northern railway maintenance yards of the PGE.~ This community, already served by the John Hart-Peace River Highway, became a road fork in 1965 with the construction of the Hudson's Hope Highway nearby. This new highway avoided Dawson Creek and terminated just north of Fort St. John on the Alaska Highway. This paved route is a 25 mile saving from the alternate 177 mile route via Dawson Creek for traffic between Prince George and north of Fort St. John. Chetwynd is located in the lower foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It is able to draw upon both the forest resources to the south and west and the nearby Peace River Block granary. In addition, Chetwynd would be the most likely beneficiary of any coal mine developments to its south. Brameda Resources, the owner of the primary site under consideration for coal mining, wrote that' the annual tonnage of coking coal'would amount to 2.24 million tons 12 annually. This tonnage would be shipped at least to Prince George and on to either Squamish/North Vancouver or Prince George. Brameda made no mention of transporting the coal east nor- the likely duration of these shipments. Most of the industrial development in Chetwynd in 1971 was related to forest products with several sawmills in operation. Canadian Forest Products (Can-for), the operators of both Intercontinental Pulp and Prince George Pulp and Paper in Prince George, also operated a sawmill in Chetwynd. While the pop-ulation of Chetwynd was 1,368 in 1966, this declined to 1,253 in 1971, in spite of annexations to the municipality. Table 14 shows the commodity carloadings of the PGE at Chetwynd. The quantity is in part due to the crossroads location near Chetwynd. The quan-tity is in part due to the crossroads location near Chetwynd and may not represent just the local industries. At any rate, the table seems to indicate that the peak of economic prosperity in Chetwynd was in 1968. Since that year, forest products carloadings decreased, even in the woodchips category which was so strong in other areas studied for this dissertation. The author -68-Table 14!: Commodity Carloadings at Chetwynd. 1966. 1968-1970 Commodity 1966 1968 1969 1970 Wheat, Domestic . . 2 ' ' 84 179 141 Wheat, Export 0 0 0 1 Other Grain, Domestic 8 17 13 28 Grain Products 8 3 0 0 Livestock : 52 26 0 7 Logs 13 259 34 10 Lumber & Veneer, Destined to east . 1247 1878 ,.. 1367 1268 Lumber & Veneer, Export . 23 6 5 0 Lumber & Veneer, for B.C. 50 107 A63 73 Pulpwood 0 4 0 1 Woodchips to B.C. 1072 1386 1134 . 1012 Manufactured Iron & Steel Products 1 0 4 13 Machinery & Parts 100 256 142 52 Fuel & Road Oils 0 0 0 3 Autos, Trucks, & Parts 23 5 1 0 Fertilizers 0 1 0 0 Scrap & Waste Metals 0 0 6 4 Miscellaneous 5 5 12 2 Piggyback 5 14 1 1 Merchandise, L.C.L. 2 3 0 0 Totals 2612 4054 2962 2616 Source: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, unpublished records'. i s unable to offer-any explanation-for the-downturn of the Chetwynd economy as indicated by both Table 12 and the 1971 census. Dawson Creek Dawson Creek i s situated i n the Peace River Block, in one of the fla t t e s t areas in British Columbia. To the south are the foothills of the Rocky Mountains; in a l l other directions l i e f l a t expanses of grain f i e l d s . The city, as noted earlier in this chapter, was served exclusively by road and r a i l from Alberta u n t i l 1952. In 1951 when Dawson Creek was s t i l l isolated from the rest of British Columbia, the population of the city was 3,589. The labour force that year was 1,414, of which 290 were craftsmen, 185 were employed in trans-portation and communications, 178 were managerial, and 174 were in the service industries. The population of.census subdivision 10d, including Dawson.Creek and Pouce Coupe, was 9,133 i n 1951; Dawson Creek represented almost 40* of that population. By 1956, the population of Dawson Creek climbed dramatically by 3,942 persons to 7,531. The population of census subdivision lOd increased by only 4,126. Therefore, most.;of the population growth of the area was in Dawson Creek. This growth was apparently directly related to o i l and -69-natural gas discoveries in the area. In 1956, the first refinery in the 13 Peace River-Liard region was completed in Dawson Creek. J It is difficult to assess the impact of the John Hart-Peace River Highway completion in 1952. In 1961 census identified the population of Dawson Creek in 10,946, an absolute increase almost as great as that noted in 1956. The'population of census subdivision lOd was 18,171 of which Dawson Creek represented in excess of 60%. The 1961 labour force in Dawson Creek was 3,721. The major sectors of the labour force were craftsmen (834 persons), managerial (535 persons), clerical (469 persons), and service and recreation (423 persons). The five year interval ending in 1961 was one of extensive indus-trial development in Dawson Creek. In 1957, Pacific Petroleum completed construction of a $12,000,000 refinery. Subsequent years saw the additions of an asphalt plant and two redi-mix concrete block plants. In addition, this was the time period in which the PGE extended into Dawson Creek (1958). Compared to the two previous censuses, the 1966 census showed a slowdown in the rate of population increase of Dawson Creek. That year, there were 12,392 persons recorded. This slowdown was confirmed by the lack of significant industrial expansion in Dawson Creek after I960. If the 1971 population of 11,488 in Dawson Creek -is an indication, this slowdown became a downturn in economic activity. Table 15 is the." list of commodity carloadings at Dawson Creek handled by the PGE for the years 1966 and 1968-1970. Its inclusion should show how some elements of the primary and secondary economic sectors per-formed in recent years. The PGE carloadings show a significant percentage related to agricul-ture. The forest products shipments follow the pattern indicated in other regions outlined in this thesis, although on a smaller scale. The merchan-dise category seems to follow the population. Correspondence received for the purposes of this thesis indicated that, at least in part, the piggyback services supplied larger food stores in Dawson Creek.If so, the sources for these products would not be along the PGE route as the PGE specified that the greater proportion (81% in 1970) of the piggyback trailers carried to and from Dawson Creek was not owned by the company.This would not be inconsistent with common railway practise of shipping piggyback trailers on flatcars, with both items owned by the originating railway. -70-Table 15: PGE Commodity Carloadings at Dawson Creek. 1966. 1968 -1970 Commodity 1966 1968 1969 1970 Wheat, Domestic 376 343 851 1008 Wheat, Export 272 410 563 85 Other Grain, Domestic 656 881 I36I 1270 Other Grain, Export 29 30 44 .105 Grain Products 34 168 227 262 Fruits, Fresh or Frozen 0 0 0 3 Other Agricultural Products 7 0 0 0 Livestock 82 11 1 3 Other Animal Products (non-edible) 2 0 0 0 Crude Petroleum 0 0 5 0 Other Mine Products (non-metallic) 0 0 0 1 Sulphur 0 . 0 0 3 Logs 2 0 11 0 Lumber & Veneer, Destined to east 37 142 418 441 Lumber & Veneer, Export 4 1 1 4 Lumber & Veneer, for B.C. 0 • 3 2 1 Pulpwood 0 0 1 0 Woodchips to B.C. 0 0 0 165 Other Forest Products 0 - 1 0 0 Manufactured Steel & Iron Products 3 1 0 0 Machinery & Parts 33 18 12 7 Gasoline 0 4 0 8 Fuel & Road Oils 1 1 3 0 1 Cement • 2 0 0 0 Beverages 0 0 3 0 Canned and Packed Food Products 1 0 0 0 Agricultural Implements 2 0 1 0 Autos, Trucks, & Parts 4 0 1 0 Fertilizers 0 0 1 0 Miscellaneous 102 112 88 32 Piggyback 246 43 93 151 Merchandise, L.C.L. 111 115 85 73 Totals, Originated on PGE 2006 2286 3769 3623 Received from N.A.-R. 506 788 8O3 649 Grand Total 2512 •3074 4572 4272 Source: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, unpublished records. -71-One grain elevator operation in Dawson Creek indicated that 99.9* of its 1971 grain tonnage was carried by the PGE; the remainder was carried by the N.A.R. for the LakeHead (Thunder Bay, Ontario)."^ The grain carried by the PGE was destined for Vancouver or to feed mills in the Fraser Valley of the Lower Mainland, recorded as Wheat, Domestic and Other Grain, Domestic by the PGE. It is difficult to assess the extent to which the PGE affected the Dawson Creek economy. The forest products industry probably would not have reached the stage of development it has without the availability of the PGE. But agricultural products are different. These are commodities which are planted annually and would be harvested with or without the PGE. In this case, the market changed from an export orientation to a domestic. This reorientation, in part, occurred as a result of the cheaper freight rates, due to a shorter shipping distance, the PGE was able to offer grain products shipped within the province. In addition, while the Canadian Wheat Board controlled the.prices of grains travelling across provincial borders, in British Columbia, prices could be negotiated between 17 the buyer and seller of grains. This action allowed the farmer to receive spot cash for his product, rather than wait for the Wheat Board price, which was usually higher but very slow to reach the farmer. The PGE made this transaction possible, whereas the N.A.R. could not. Fort St. John - Taylor Fort St. John and Taylor are also located in the Peace River Block. They are in a part of the Block which has some tableland relief, near the Peace River. Both communities are connected by the Alaska Highway as well as the PGE. Both Fort St. John and Taylor, like Dawson Creek, have basic economic ties with the grain producing area that surrounds them. However, this area lost much of its agriculture orientation with the oil and natural gas discov-eries, centred to the northwest of" Fort St. John. To connect the various fields, oil and natural gas pipelines have been constructed. In 1969, the fields within about 80 miles of Taylor were served by a radial system of 18 pipelines from that community. Then from Taylor, the entire area produc-tion was funneled into a dual pipeline: the natural gas line of Westcoast Transmission Company and the oil line of Western Pacific Products and Crude 19 Oil Pipelines, both leading to the Lower Mainland. Natural gas production from the Fort Nelson area joined the main pipeline near Chetwynd. -72-In 1951, when neither community was served by any transportation facility other than the Alaska Highway, Taylor, as an entity,••did not exist and Fort St. John had a population of 884. That year, the population of census subdivision 10c, which centred upon Fort St. John, was 3,868. The census year 1956 recorded a tremendous increase in population of Fort St. John to 1,908 persons. Census subdivision 10c increased to a population of 5 ,073 . Almost the entire increase was that of Fort St. John. Taylor was still unincorporated. In spite of the population increase, no significant industrial expansion was identified by the Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce. The population of Fort,St. John was 3,619 in 1961. The labour force in Fort St. John that year was 1,186. Two sectors comprised the bulk of the labour force: craftsmen with 263 employees and managerial with 207 employees. Two other sectors of professional and technical, transportation and communic-ations, clerical, and services and recreation ranged between 113 and 133 employees. The population of Taylor was 438 in 1961. Census subdivision:. 10c had a population of 9,842 ih 1961, which implies a large increase in the rural population. The significant population increase in this area over that of the previous five years came with several industrial developments. Between 1956 and 1958, the PGE reached Taylor and Fort St. John from Chetwynd; Fort St. John became a railhead. In 1957, a $3 ,000 ,000 sulphur plant was contructed at Taylor. In 1958, a sawmill opened up in Fort. St. John. The year 1959 saw a grain elevator erected in Fort St. John. Phillips Petroleum expanded its oil refining facilities at Taylor in I960. The population increases for Fort,St. John and Taylor remained sub-stantial through 1966. The census of that year showed the population of Fort St. John as 6,749 while that of Taylor was 595 . Industry expansion moderated at this time, with two grain elevators built. One was built in Fort St. John in 1964; the other was built in Taylor'in 1966. Also of impor-tance was the start of the construction of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam near Hudson Hope, 60 miles by road west of Fort St. John. In 1971, the population of Fort St. John was 8,243, and the population of Taylor was 605. Table 16 is a listing of the commodity carloadings for Fort.,St. John for the years 1966 and 1968-1970. Carloadings for Taylor are also incorpor^ -ated into these figures. - 7 3 -Table 16 : Commodity Carloadings at Fort St. John. 1966. 1968. -1970 Commodity . 1966 1968 1969 1970 Wheat, Domestic 256 268 444 571 Wheat, Export 296 266 150 74 Other Grain, Domestic 719 817 880 921 Other Grain, Export Grain Products 17 19 17 57 0 1 0 18 Other Agricultural Products 11 23 3 1 Livestock 36 6 0 1 Copper Ores & Concentrates 0 0 0 203 Non-ferrous Concentrates 0 1 0 2 Crude Petroleum 0 227 337 143 Sand & Gravel 0 3 0 4 Other Mine Products (non-metallic) 6 1 0 5 Sulphur 903 586 634 634 Asbestos 166 206 416 271 Logs 72 0 12 3 Lumber & Veneer, destined to east 546 626 612" 641 Lumber & Veneer, Export 11 : 6 5 160 Lumber & Veneer, for B.C. 1 0 3 8 Iron & Steel 0 0 0 2 Manufactured Iron & Steel Products 0 25 0 7 Machinery & Parts 30 25 97 83 Gasoline 876 1186 1408 1226 Fuel & Road Oils 726 739 705 625 Other Petroleum Products 27 0 11 82 IPG, Domestic 432 597 596 552 IPG, Export 82 73 8 169 Cement 0. 0 21 2 Woodpulp 0 0 0 3 Agricultural Implements 0 0 0 2 Autos, Trucks, & Parts 3 5 1 8 F e r t i l i z e r 0 1 0 0 Scrap & Waste Metals 2 0 2 10 Miscellaneous 1 5 4 7 Piggyback 24 110 59 24 Merchandise, L.C.L. 100 . ? 10 10 Totals 5343 5825 6435 6529 Source: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, unpublished records. -74-The commodity carloadings at Fort St. John call for several observations. With the possible exception of Prince George, no other area showed the diversification of commodities handled at Fort St. John. There were significant quantities of grain products, petroleum products, and forest products. Each of these products increased moderately by the end of the five years examined. However, there was little processing of the raw resources other than in the petroleum industry. The possible reason for the lack of increase in sulphur shipments was offered by a bulk loading company: safety and environmental considerations have 20 required sulphur producers to find a way of eliminating sulphur dust. Apparently, sulphur produced in the Taylor area is in powder form; sulphur from other sources is in either pellet or slaked form to reduce the handling problems. Copper shipments originated from near Fort Nelson; asbestos shipments originated from Cassiar. Both mine products were shipped from Fort Nelson at the completion of the PGE rail line there in 1971. Another observation concerns the forest products industry. It is worthy of notice that no woodchips were shipped by the PGE from Fort St. John. This is inconsistent with most of the other areas identified in this thesis. It may be asi a result of the absence of a pulp harvesting area beyond Chetwynd. In order to add information to the figures of Table 13, several com-panies, representing each of the three major industries in the Fort St. John-Taylor, responded to the author's letter of enquiry. The company producing most of the lumber shipped form Fort St. John I specified that approximately 50* of its shipments left the, PGE at Prince George for the eastern United 21 States. In addition, about 25* of the lumber went through Vancouver for the western United States. The remainder was exported to the United States after switching to the CPR in Vancouver. The grain elevators' responses were similar to those of Dawson Creek, with a similar market distribution for the shipments. One elevator company added the following qualifying remarks: "The PGE outlet cut our freight rate by a considerable amount and also gave us a much larger market so that farmers in this B.C. area of the Peace River block are able to sell most of their grain with no quota restrictions - thus making a considerable difference in the economy of the area - as opposed to, for instance, Saskatchewan, where the amount of grain grown is considerabley in excess of that which can be sold. . . Tooclarify one point only, B.C. farmers are allowed to sell grain to the B.C. feed markets, without quota restrictions."22 - 7 5 -Th e petroleum companies in the Fort St. John-Taylor area added the 23 following information for 1971. Sulphur production was shipped approx-imately equally to Alaska, Washington State, and the British Columbia coastal region. The PGE handled about 40* of the gasoline production, of which 5,000,000 gallons went to Vancouver, 10,000,000 gallons went to Fort Nelson, and 45,000,000 gallons went to,points along the PGE route between Taylor and Williams Lake. About 80* of the annual liquid petro-leum gas (L.P.G.) production was shipped from Taylor by the PGE. The L.P.G. distribution was 7,000,000 gallons via the PGE enrroute to Alaska and Japan, 3,000,000 gallons via the PGE en route to the northwestern United States, and 10,000,000 gallons for consumption along the PGE route between Taylor and Williams Lake. The advent of the PGE in the Fort St. John-Taylor area and its benefits for the petroleum industry were summarized by one company as follows. '.'.'The expansion of the P.G.E. to this region was an essential part of the overall plan to utilize the known reserves of gaseous and liquid fuels in the.'immediate vicinity of Fort St. John. Without the P^ G.'E., the marketing of liquid petroleum products by road haulage would not have been economically feasible. Owing to the density of sulphur, large scale shipments from the plant in Taylor would be unthinkable without railroad facilities."24 Fort Nelson In 1971, two significant things occurred in Fort Nelson. That year, the community was incorporated as a village and the PGE extended its track so that the new village became a railhead. Before 1971, Fort Nelson was just another settlement along the Alaska Highway. Fort Nelson is located in the midst of undulating h i l l s and, muskeg (bogs created by poor drainage). About 50 miles to the northwest is Nelson Forks at the confluence of the Fort Nelson and Liard Rivers; this is just downstream from a potential hydroelectric dam site. About 120 miles to the west, by way of the Alaska Highway, is the site of Churchill Mines in the 25 Rocky Mountains, shut down in 1971 due to the poor copper metals market. And about 270 miles to the northwest, along the Alaska Highway, -is Lower Post, beyond the Rocky Mountains where the Alaska Highway enters the Yukon Territory. While the; population of Fort Nelson was not independently assessed until 1971, i t is within census subdivision 10a. In 1951, the population of this area was 1,173. This population was 1,935 in 1956 and 2,874 in 1961. By 1966, the subdivision population had increased to 2}115. In 1971, the population of Fort Nelson, alone, was 2,281. - 7 6 -The extension of the PGE caused a significant reduction of freight transported along the Alaska Highway. Churchill Copper, when i t returns to production, expects to ship the entire annual production of 32 ,000 tons via the PGE at Fort Nelson, rather than the previous terminus of Fort 26 St. John. In addition, the food and equipment for the mine would be transported to the railhead at Fort Nelson. The 10 ,000 ,000 gallons of gasoline shipped by truck to Fort Nelson in 1971 was transferred to the PGE after the line was opened. Pipe and tubular stocks were transferred from Fort St. John to Fort Nelson in 1 9 7 1 . 2 7 Mr. D.F.H. Hollman, the Director of Planning for the Peace River-Liard Regional District expressed the following remarks regarding the development of Fort Nelson. "An industrial park has. been established close to the railhead, approximately five miles from the Village. Bulk loading, warehousing, and o i l and gas supply industries formerly located at Fort Nelson are moving to this site. "Fort Nelson serves as a northern supply centre (trucking, o i l and gas, mineral exploration). Arplanned Fort Nelson-Fort Simpson (in the Northwest Territories) Road will increase the importance in this field. As long as a Liard Dam is not constructed, Fort Nelson is important for the shipping of goods from the Alaska Highway to. the_Mackenzie Delta via the Fort Nelson-Liard River system. The potential for two pulpmills exists in this area but: a realization of this project•depends on improved market conditions. "Asbestos from Gassiar will be shipped for several years from the Fort Nelson railhead. After the completion of the Dease Lake P.G.E. facilities, asbestos will be shipped from this point and the shipments from Fort Nelson will cease. The Natural Gas plant in Fort Nelson . handles most of the natural gas in the Canadian Northwest and solid products might be shipped by the P.G.E. Due to averse market^conditions Churchill Copper has ceased; temporarily, the extraction activity and Davis Keays is not yet in. production. At a more profitable stage, con-centratesvof these mines-will be shipped from Fort Nelson. "The Hydro Power projects to dam the Liard River, which could use the P.G.E. facilities heavily for the construction period, is not likely to.become a reality in a foreseeable time. '- ' "It is my personal feeling that the r a i l extensions are not so intensively used at the moment and that the implications for regional economic development have not been spectacular up to now (late 1 9 7 1 ) . Especially in the field. of secondary industry. It is the;'hope that- mar-ket conditions for forest and mineral products will improve which will then justify economically the Fort Nelson extension and that certain coal deposits will be extracted and shipped for hopefully a period of more than 25 years. "28 These remarks were further'elaborated: upon by; Mr.'Go lim Griffith, the Clerk-Administrator for the Village of Fort Nelson. - 7 7 -"The village has been forced to hasten land servicing, zoning, and establishment of municipal services and regulation in response to influx of people. The Village is prevented by provisions of the Municipal Act from providing any physical accommodation to any industrial or business enterprise, however, we have encouraged this extension in every other method possible. , l 2 9 It is obvious from Mr. Griffith's comments that the PGE made a sub-stantial impact upon Fort Nelson. The effect of locating the railhead and industrial park five miles out of town has shifted the economic focus of the village away from established enterprises in town. In addition, the exten-sive requirements for public utilities came at a time when the newly incorporated municipality was unable to keep up physically with the demand, regardless of the state of the planning for the extension. There seems to be a great deal of optimism regarding the extension of the PGE to Fort Nelson expressed by the above two public officials, better acquainted with the local situation. There should be a reduction in the freight tonnage shipped from Fort St. John due to the Fort Nelson extension. The author of this thesis did not attempt to find out if any mining companies in the Yukon, other than Cassiar Asbestos, would begin to truck shipments to Fort Nelson. Such action would cause a decrease in the mineral shipments via the White Pass and Yukon Railway, with a railhead at Whitehorse. Footnotes ; 1. A regional, district is a creation of the Legislature of British Columbia charged with the responsibility for the provision of hospitals, planning, contract services, and local works and services for all incorporated and unincorporated areas within its borders. In addition, the regional district may undertake any function agreed upon by any more than one of its member municipalities or unincorporated electoral areas. 2. Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce, Economics and Statistics Branch, Peace River-Liard Region Economic Study (Victoria: Queen's Printer, 1 9 6 6 ) , p. 1 3 . . 3. G.L. Ritchie, Chief of Real Estate and Industrial Development and R.W. Young, Research Analyst, Pacific Great Eastern Railway, interview of December 1, 1971. 4 . The Peace River-Liard Region. Op. Cit.. p. 38. 5. Ibid.. p. 5 6 . 6 . Department.of Finance, British Columbia. Financial and Economic Review (Victoria: Queen's Printer, 1 9 7 1 ) , p. 2 0 . 7. Ibid., p. 42 . 8 . Mr.,. D.A. Saunders, Vice-President, Mackenzie Division, British Columbia Forest Products Limited, correspondence dated November 26, 1971. 9 . The Peace River-Liard Region. Op. Cit... p. 38 . - 7 8 -10. D.A. Saunders, Op. Cit. 11. Ibid. 12. J.C. Mitchell, Assistant, to the President, Brameda Resources Limited, correspondence dated November 24, 1971. 13. Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce, Economics and Statistics Branch, Industrial Expansion in British Columbia by Census Divisions (Victoria: Queen's Printer). 14. D.F.H. Hollmann, Director of Planning, Peace River-Liard Regional Dist-rict, correspondence dated November 10, 1971. 15. Pacific Great Eastern Railway, unpublished records. 16. Correspondence received for the purpose of this thesis. 17. John C. Dawson, Northeastern British Columbia (Vancouver: B.C. Hydro and Power Authorityi ,1970)', Premier Bennett has often publicly suggested such a union. In early 1972, Premier Bennett confirmed the further consideration of the extension of the PGE from Dease 17 Lake, along the Stewart-Watson Lake Highway, north to Lower Post. Lower Post is on the Alaska Highway about five miles south of the Yukon border. A further extension is possible from Lower Post to Ross River, the mining and economic focus of the Yukon, or from Dease Lake, via Teslin Lake, to Whitehorse, the Yukon administrative capital. It must be recalled that the PGE cannot cross any provincial boundary without losing its status as an intraprovincial railway and these many associated rights. However, i t is thought that the hint of development possi-bly due to r a i l transportation to the rest of Canada brought by the PGE might swing the Yukon politicians, with corporate urgings, to bring that territory into union with British Columbia. Then, the PGE could extend into that territory without losing its intraprovincial non-regulated status. The new centres in the Omineca-Stikine resulting from new or expanded -87-resource e x t r a c t i o n should consider some of the l o c a l i m p l i c a t i o n s of t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s . In p a r t , these r e f e r to the environment. By opening up t h i s expanse of w i l d e r n e s s , the PGE probably has extended some of the.more undes-i r a b l e t r a i t s of western c i v i l i s a t i o n . These may i n c l u d e water and a i r p o l l u t i o n from the mining and f o r e s t products i n d u s t r i e s . Perhaps more acceptable to the p r i v a t e sector would be the i n s t a l l a t i o n requirements f o r high q u a l i t y p o l l u t i o n abatement equipment w i t h the c o n s t r u c t i o n of the processing s t r u c t u r e s . With the establishment of urban settlements come the human problems of sewage, roads, c o n f l i c t i n g land use, and r e c r e a t i o n a l home developments. These problems need not cause damage to the environment so long as the P r o v i n c i a l Government o f f e r s c o n s t r a i n t s and management to a n t i c i p a t e them. The reason the P r o v i n c i a l Government has been s i n g l e d out here i s because of i t s overwhelming powers to c o n t r o l many of these problems. I f the Omineca-Stikine develops r a p i d l y , newly formed m u n i c i p a l governments probably w i l l be unable to handle e i t h e r the a r r a y of problems or to have the t e c h -n i c a l s k i l l s necessary t o help solve the problems. I f the r e g i o n develops s l o w l y , the P r o v i n c i a l Government w i l l r e t a i n i t s pervasive powers. Company towns, the most l i k e l y urban settlements w i t h t h e i r p u b l i c u t i l i t i e s planned i f not provided by the p r i n c i p a l company f o r employment, may prove to be the necessary l i n k s to enable m u n i c i p a l governments' adequately to perform t h e i r t e c h n i c a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s . .Since the Omineca-Stikine i s v i r t u a l l y v i r g i n t e r r i t o r y plans f o r development can be made to t r y to avoid the past s i t u a t i o n s where there has been i n d i s c r i m i n a t e use of the n a t u r a l resources. I t i s h i g h l y u n l i k e l y t h a t any urban settlement w i l l occur i n the Omineca-Stikine without an i n d u s t r i a l stimulus such as a few s a w m i l l s , a pulp-m i l l , a mining o p e r a t i o n , or a smelter. I t i s too much to expect any towns i n t h i s r e g i o n to d i v e r s i f y i n t o resource f a b r i c a t i o n or s e r v i c e centres as long as the outside market remains the determining f o r c e behind development. R e c r e a t i o n a l developments are not' expected to occur u n t i l a f a r more extensive system of roads i s constructed. I t may be u n f a i r f o r the P r o v i n c i a l Govern-ment t o i n s i s t t h a t every i n d u s t r i a l s i t e should be accompanied by a w e l l planned and i n t e g r a t e d community completely backed by the dominant company of employment. The " i n s t a n t " town of Mackenzie apparently was the d e s i r a b l e example f o r such a community. • However, such an undertaking f o r every commun-i t y contemplated would e l i m i n a t e a l l but the most f i n a n c i a l l y i n v u l n e r a b l e c o r p o r a t i o n s from the development process. I f such a programme were c o n s i d -ered f o r the Omineca-Stikine, complaints would be expected from companies -88-unable to support a community for any length of time, attacking the policy as discriminatory. The mining industry, with its common shutdowns, might be expected to take conservative, attitudes towards mineral development under a community development constraint. Footnotes 1. Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce, Economics and Statistics Branch, Manual of Resources and Development (Victoria: Queen's Printer, 1971), p. 28. 2. John C. Dawson, The Mining .Industry of British Columbia and the Yiikon (Vancouver: B.C. Hydro and Power Authority, 1968), pp. 3-4. 3. E.B. Wilkens, Chief Planning Engineer, Department of Highways, Interview of January, 1972. 4. Ibid. 5. Interview conducted for the purpose of this thesis. 6. Ibid. 7. Ibid. . 8. G.L. Ritchie, Chief of Real Estate and Industrial Development and R.W. Young, Research Analyst, P.G.E., interview of December 1, 1971. 9. Ibid. 10. William Gilgan, Director of Planning, Bulkey,rNechako Regional District, correspondence dated November 23,- 1971. 11. Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce, Economics and Statistics Branch, The Bulkey-Nechako Region (Victoria: Queen's Printer, 1970), pp. 59-61. 12. Stuart Lake Lumber Co. correspondence dated November 17, 1971. 13. The Bulkey-Nechako Region. Op. Cit.. p. 69. 14. Ibid. 15. 'A. C. Beguin, Manager of Operations, Cassiar Asbestos Corporation, correspondence dated November 15, 1971. 16. Manual of Resource and Development. Op. Cit.. p. 33. 17. R.W. Young, conversation, February, 1972. -89-QUEEN ^ CHARLOTTE ^ I S LANDS^ tD 62 i N \ c ^ ^ > : ' FORT a i «* I F * PACIFIC GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY ^ T ^ i M MAIN TRACK UNDER CONSTRUCTION Resources: I I FOREST DEVELOPMENT AREA NATURAL GAS SS OIL G H MERCURY G COPPER Ql LEAD-ZINC © SILVER © A ASBESTOS Q /I MOLYBDENUM O C COAL O 6 GOLD O S SULPHUR f © A/ NICKEL Cfe**» ^ P PULP i , PAPER MILLS S«J ' 0 / MAJOR SAW MILLS ^ ' f y . LJ V' PLYWOOD-VENEER MILLS /_ E3 C CHEMICAL PLANTS SQUAMISH ^.i^NORTH VANCOUVER ClyANCOUVER * — Seal** 1 irsdi 90 mA 3 -90-The following comments are from a 1949 Provincial Government report concerning expansion of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway. "There can be no doubt that if adequate mechanical energy were made available there would be no lack of venture capital to provide the facilities necessary for the application of both human and mechanical energy to the natural resources of this area of the Province . . . The full utilization of these resources is of utmost economic importance to the people who have pioneered in this great and important area of the Province and to the many additional thousands who would find scope for individual enterprise and constructive employment. The development of this area carries more than local significance; it would provide additional markets for the fruit-growing industry in the Okanagan, for metals produced in the Kootenay District, for manufacturing and whole-sale establishments in the metropolitan area of Vancouver; it would benefit all the taxpayers of the whole Province by improving the finan-cial operation of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway.u± The preceding four chapters describe economic development in the local areas served by the Pacific' Great Eastern Railway. This has been done historically from the time the -PGE laid its tracks to the area in Question. The economic -development of these areas was reviewed by taking into account population changes, transportation access improvements, physical industrial expansion, commodity carloadings of the PGE, and'production and marketing characteristics of local companies utilising the PGE. Generally, the econ-omic development throughout these areas has had two,common characteristics: l) it has been overwhelmingly associated with the primary industrial sector, and 2) it has absorbed small local operations into large corporate-controlled operations. In 1952 the Pacific Great Eastern Railway served an area inclined to ranching, logging, and sawmilling. With the extension to Prince George in 1956,. a shorter and cheaper route for lumber and veneer products market-ing was opened. However, the extension to North•Vancouver did not materi-ally benefit beef cattle ranching or prospects for local meat packing as the high volume-low profit meat packing industry marketing in the Lower Mainland was controlled by relatively large corporations. By 1958 the PGE had dextended into the Peace River Block where grain farming had been established for several decades and where oil and natural gas production was well underway. The new railway did not greatly benefit the grain farmer. His produce merely flowed to a different market via a different carrier. By not exporting his produce, he received his money immediately, albeit less money than if he waited for the transactions of the Canadian Wheat Board. The oil and Natural gas industry benefited moderately from the extension. While the bulk of the well production is -91-shipped through pipelines, certain material by-products such as pressurized liquid petroleum gas, bulk sulphur, and gasoline for local distribution have been shipped via the PGE. The PGE probably arrived at the Peace Paver Block in" time to transport large quantities of drilling, pipeline, and refinery equipment. Effectively, the Pacific Great Eastern Railway has either provided better or reoriented access from these areas of established natural resources to their potential markets. Since in the presence of truck and air trans-portation any railway generally tends to be a transporter of high bulk-low value commodities, this improved access has reduced the likelihood of bulk-reducing manufacturing industries establishing near the raw resource. These types of industries are capital intensive and usually locate near their markets or where they can best distribute their products. Places along single access corridors cannot compete with the distribution potential of those centres located at carrier interchanges where a break in bulk is more likely. Because the PGE has laid track into areas with established indus-tries, these industries have been in a better position to capitalise upon the improved access than any industries without established local bases of operation. Therefore, when access was improved to both Prince George and the Lower Mainland, established industries in these two places with domes-tic markets were able to expand their previous markets to areas along the PGE extensions. In essence, the presence of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway has reaffirmed the industrial set-up established in those places to which it has extended its service, with the exceptions of Prince George and the Peace River-Liard region. Prince George has benefited from its dual positions of rail trans-fer point and highway intersection. Because of the former position, Prince George has been able to establish processing industries which require chem-icals and local forest by-products. In light of its highway connections, Prince George has been able to become a distribution centre—to where larger quantities of fabricated materials can be shipped more economically by rail and from where smaller volumes of the same materials may be distributed by truck as needed by the ultimate consumer. The Peace River-Liard region has been an exception in that before the advent of the PGE, the local forest products industry was virtually non-existent. What few sawmills that were in operation before 1958 appeared -92-to serve only the limited regional requirements. However, after 1958, this industry has expanded dramatically and most intensively i n those areas nearest Prince George. However, generally in the case of the forest products industry served by the PGE, the following has occurred. In the Cariboo, numerous small sawmill operations came into existence with the improved access to Prince George in 1952. However, the combination of technological innova-tion and the new status of Prince George as a break-bulk"point began to change the nature of the Cariboo forest products industry. In 1952 a l l that a successful enterprise required was a timber license, some loggers, and a sawmill located on a railroad siding. But soon the timber near the sawmill was cut and additional capital was required for the purchase of logging trucks. Then there was the matter of the newer equipment capable of processing more timber quicker. On the one hand, the established small operator could not afford the new equipment. On the other, the newer, more efficient equipment was uneconomical to operate with a small volume of timber. The obvious answer was consolidation of operations. In this man-ner, the newer equipment could be purchased, based upon a greater a b i l i t y to process timber from more extensive holdings. In the meantime, the PGE was expanding into areas with no previ-ously established forest industry. The companies acquiring timber quotas in these new areas benefited from the technological advances. Because the equipment was more expensive at the outset, the companies establishing in these new areas were larger. They also provided impetus for the older areas to keep up with technological innovations. The Forest Service~was hardly a bystander. It followed the new technological innovations very closely. Its policy under the sustained yield system was the efficient harvest of the resource. The bidding and stumpage rate systems, the Forest Service probably theorized, should l ) provide the maximum income to the Province since bids would be the d i f f e r -ence between the lowest acceptable profits and the market value of the pro-cessed timber, and 2) require the maximum ut i l i s a t i o n of the resource. This maximum ut i l i s a t i o n concept was extended f i r s t to smaller diameter trees and then to previously burnt bark, foliage, and sawdust. "At a stumpage auction several years ago, for example, the Lands and Forests Minister, Ray Williston, openly deplored what he called the 'lack of interest' in the auction. This lack of interest was merely the absence of a sizeable number of companies that could han-dle the business—the direct result of relatively open competition in this type of forestry business. A small logging company today -93-(1969) can make a profit only by slashing the best timber out of a readily accessible area, then moving on quickly to another easily accessible area with prime timber. Such areas are rapidly dis-appearing and provincial regulations increasingly penalize 'slash and run' practices as wasteful and contrary to the British Columbia economic interest. Only the large integrated,companies can make full utiliza-tion of forest areas an economic proposition. The industry simply does not lend itself today to efficient exploitation by a multiplicity of small firms, and smaller loggers without ready access to prime stands of timber are rapidly going out of business."3 "The small portable operations that are situated close to the timber resource and truck the lumber to dry kilns, planers, and rail are fast disappearing in the area (Bulkley-Nechako). Larger, stationary, integ-rated mills have been built or are being built adjacent to rail. These mills can afford to install barkers and chippers and take advantage of the extra timber made available through adoption of close utilization policies. The first barkers and chippers were installed in 1965 when the chip market became established to supply the two pulp mills at Prince George, then in production."4 "Under present provincial forest management policy, companies desir-ing access to pulp materials must have control over any waste materials being generated by an existing lumber industry—usually by having saw-mills of their own—because first priority on trees harvested is for lumber and veneer. Essentially, the first company to build a pulp mill in an area has first access to chips and other wood waste, and this means it must develop jjor control) a sawmilling base. No group can now (1971) obtain pulp harvesting rights in advance of actual pulp mill construction; so 'promise' has been replaced by 'performance' as the chief requisite in obtaining access to pulp raw materials."5 With the advent of the large integrated companies have come complaints from the longer established areas of the alienation of the industry. To an extent, this has occurred. The Cariboo Pulp and Paper pulp mill, scheduled to open in 1972 in Quesnel, is owned 50% by Japanese interests and 50% by Weldwood of Canada, whose corporate offices are located in Vancouver.^ Canim Lake Sawmills, near 100 Mile House,, Empire Lumber of Squamish, Westree and Cariboo Plywood and feneer of Quesnel were all owned by Weldwood. This one corporation controlled 45% of the 1967 timber quotas in the Chilko, Lac la Hache, Quesnel Lake, Stum, and Williams Lake P.S.Y.U.s (see map p. 32)• Three other companies, two of which were local, each employing more than 200 per-sons, accounted for an additional 37% of the timber quotas in these partic-ular P.S.Y.U.s.7 An interesting and unexpected aspect of the responses to the author's letter of enquiry regarding the effect of the PGE has occurred in the South Cariboo and Squamish. This has resulted from a diverse combination of public attitudes, public reaction, and the ubiquitous effect of highways. South of -94-Williams Lake, several respondants volunteered concern for the effect the PGE and the industries whose products it carries had had upon their local environment. North of Williams Lake, the responses, with the single excep-tion of William Gilgan, the Regional Planner for the Bulkley-Nechako Reg-ional District, showed interest only in greater production. "The first question that must be raised has to do with the very con-cept of regional development. Is it an objective in itself, or only an instrument to achieve some other objective? . . . Presumably, we are really interested in people and their welfare. Development of the region is not an objective in itself, but rather is a means to an end. . . If regional development's a means, what is the end? Do we want to develop our region to yield the highest per capita income to the inhabitants of the region, or do we want to develop our region so that it will support the largest possible population?"8 Perhaps a third aspect could be "added to R. Shearer's remarks, that environmental development should be based upon environmental concern. The immediate reasons for this division are not readily ascertain-able from socio-economic statistics. The areas studied in this thesis are very similar both in terms of their cultural and economic orientation. The basic forest products industry is balanced by varying amounts of ranching and farming. The Peace River Block, while primarily devoted to farming, is no different. The common denominator is' an individual who harvests a resource and modifies its original form into a marketable product of the land. This is primary economic sector. If the division of environmental awareness cannot be explained in terms of differing socio-economic characteristics among the regions, a possible consideration may be communication. The method of communication is likely to be personal interaction,^ facilitated by a paved highway. In 1971, these highways were the Cariboo Highway and the Squamish Highway., "Whether consciously thought out or not, Social Credit policies have provided an ingenious series of responses to the political situation. Very high on the list of difficulties facing the exploiters of natural resources are problems of access and low-cost transportation. Lower down on the list are problems associated with supplies and service. The gov-ernment's answer has been a fantastic expansion of the communications system—highways, bridges, ferries, access roads, and the railway. High-ways are of enormous benefit to small scale operators, are of great utility in relieving feelings of desperation and frustration in isolated people, and are simply good politics. Highways are good politics, not simply in the partisan sense but in terms of greatly increasing social integration and of improving the society's capacity to assimilate large numbers of migrant people and to adjust to other types of rapid socio-economic change." "An improved system of physical communications does more than permit metropolitan Vancouver to serve its hinterland more effectively. It also -95-makes feasible the development of a whole series of small cities as regional service centres close to the resources to be exploited. The service industries today (1969) are the mecca of the small businessman. . .Good highways provide not only better access to resources, but they open up more of the province to the booming tourist industry and to the hundreds of businessmen catering to their needs. Building the highways that make up this communications network provides work for hundreds of contractors and jobs for thousands of people. The process also enhances Social Credit's image, for there's nothing more action-oriented than a roaring bulldozer or a new and inviting stretch of 70-mile-an-hour black-top. None of this activity that so pleases the government's supporters does anything very much to inhibit the big corporations in exploiting natural resources, and everybody shares in the overall results of their prosperity."9 The Cariboo Highway provides the primary road access between the Cariboo and Vancouver (a road distance of 343 miles between Williams Lake and Vancouver) by way of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Fraser Canyon. The PGE has been a significant passenger carrier, but the average passenger trip length was only 129 miles in 1971.^ Travel between Squamish and the Cariboo and the Lower Mainland has allowed three things to happen. Residents of Squamish and the Cariboo in recent years may have been subject to 1) publicity of ecological implications and environmental quality' from the academia of the Lower Mainland, 2) a poss-ible revulsion against the Lower Mainland as a place to live, and 3) more people of the secondary and tertiary industrial sectors with more leisure time beginning to spend more of that time away from their homes in the Lower Mainland. If these three things have resulted from the personal interaction between Squamish and the Cariboo and the Lower Mainland, the intensity of that interaction decreases with the distance to be traveled. Evidence of the environmental concern was most apparent in Squamish and to a lesser extent in the Cariboo. • • This informational input to the residents of Squamish and the Cariboo has been manifested in two ways with a similar end. One has been the develop-ment of recreational lots and subdivions for sale to the residents of the Lower Mainland. Where this has occurred, property values have been raised and public utilities and services have been extended. In addition, land has been taken away from the traditional agricultural practises. Because of cul-tural preferences, recreational property has been primarily that associated with views, waterfronts,, and "tame" wildlife (some trees and a few deer). Due to this nature of the: recreational subdivisions, clearcuts of timber and indiscriminate dunjping of refuse into water bodies have become undesirable. -96-Directly related has been the concern of commercial interests attempting to capitalise upon the tourist trade. A recreation subdivider finds land, which overlooks or is adjacent to clearcuts of timber and polluted water, difficult to sell. On the other hand, residents of Squamish and the Cariboo who travel to Vancouver may be disturbed by the condition of the urban environment there. Conservation and environmental quality arguments from the universities and such organisations as the Society for Pollution and Environmental Control may become more relevant to these residents who envision the Lower Mainland as what their own areas might become. Possibly these people may return to their homes more aware of the environmental ramifications of their local industries as well as with a renewed appreciation of their local way of life. They then may seek to preserve their local environment in an attempt to forestall the undesirable elements of urban and economic development. Inasmuch as a substantial proportion of the primary industries of Squamish and the Cariboo have been consolidated into the control of out-of-town corporations and large local companies, this industrial ownership arrange-ment might frustrate local interests in their attempts to rectify company practises as these relate to the local traditional ways of life. The Pacific Great Eastern Railway entered the local situation in three ways. It was recognised as an agent of the Provincial Government. It owned land adjacent to its rail right-of-way and thus could perhaps attract a different set of tenantr-industries. The PGE provided a service which allowed the larger company to compete favourably against the smaller. To elaborate upon the latter two points, the leases from the PGE for its industrial sidings were granted to those companies which generate carload-ings for the PGE."'"'" The. PGE favoured those companies with an obvious resource base and established markets. It was not likely to extend an industrial siding lease to a small outfit which would contribute minimal shipments via the PGE. The more shipments, the better were chances of obtaining the lease. This policy lent itself to bulk shipments rather than refined goods. "A resource is not a resource unless it can be sold—or have a rea-sonable prospect of being sold—at a profit. Therefore the key to any resource development is accessibility to markets."12 In the forest products industry, companies must expand' not only to utilise the natural resource as, the Forest Service sees fit but also in order to generate the volumes required to 1) hold an industrial siding agreement and 13 2) receive adequate switching service from the PGE. Complementary indus~ -97-tries to the integrated forest products complexes, such as repair and maintenance parts and services, were acceptable to the PGE as lease holders. These conditions were not unique to Squamish and the Cariboo^ They existed along the entire extent of the PGE rail line. It may just be that Squamish and the South Cariboo areas perceive themselves as recreational haven, either for residents of the Lower Mainland or for local benefit. Responses from the areas north of Williams Lake expounded the more traditional growth and development attitudes. These are reflected as follows. "In a world of relatively free migration, prosperous areas grown in size. They attract population from less prosperous areas. Thus, it may be the prosperity that is really attractive, the growth in size being but a symptom of this prosperity. To the government official, prosperity means rising tax revenues, and hence, greater flexibility to carry out his 'pet' projects. To the landowner, it means rising property values, and hence, rising wealth. To the merchant, it means increasing sales, and probably, increasing profits. To the worker, it means steady employment and rising wages."14 Because of the shorter length of time that rail access has been avail-able to the forest products industry north of Prince George, the consolida-tion process has not been as prevalent there. From the. very first stages of the development of the industry in the Peace River-Liard and Omineca-Stikine regions, larger companies and corporations such as Canfor and B.C. Forest Products have been the initial developers. While the PGE has had a'significant effect upon the economic struc-ture in those areas most affiliated with the forest products industry, the effect has been less powerful when associated with mining operations. In the first instance, the PGE did not directly serve any large min-ing operations in 1971. Also, the mining industry has followed much the same corporate organisation as the forest products industry. The principal oper-ating^ mines near the PGE in 1972 were Gibraltar Mines (copper), north of Williams Lake, owned jointly by Cominco and Mitsubishi; Boss Mountain Mines (molybdeum), east of Williams Lake, owned by Noranda; and the Pinchi Lake Mercury Mine near Fort St. James, owned by.Cominco. In the years since 1952, a by-word of the Pacific Great Eastern Rail-way has been ^ extension". Late 1971 was no exception. The PGE was consider-16 ing extensions other than to Fort Nelson and Dease Lake at that time. The first of these was an extension of the Dease Lake rail line to Lower Post. This extension has already been discussed in the Omineca-Stikine chapter. Another potential extension was from Fort Nelson to Nelson Forks. Such a rail line could have two benefits for the Provincial Governments. First, -98-a hydroelectric dam site on the Liard River might become feasible with better access for the transportation of cement, sand and gravel, and tur-bines and el e c t r i c a l generators. Second, the terminus would provide a railhead on the Liard River only about 225 miles upstream from Fort Simpson, at the confluence of the Liard and Mackenzie Rivers. Such a railhead could lower the cost of o i l and gas pipe transportation as the pipe could be barged downstream from Kelson Forks. For this type of bulk transportation, a rail-barge operations appeared more feasible in 1971 than a Fort Simpson-Fort Nelson road, which would require extensive maintenance. While the ice break-up process in the river would probably limit the length of the shipping season, the bulk that could • be transported could be immense. A Fort Simpson-Fort Nelson road would require a far longer open season than the river in order to achieve the same amount of - bulk transported. However, the problem of thaw might be overcome by an improved truck technology. -A r a i l connection between Hazelton, on the Canadian National r a i l -line, and the future PGE ©ease Lake extension to a juncture at the confluence 17 of the Sustat and Skeena Rivers, was under consideration in early in 1972. Talks were held between the PGE and the C.N. as. to who might build the line or i f joint construction might be feasible. The implications of such a line are far-reaching. The. port of Prince Rupert became assoiciated with the National Har-bours Board in early 1972. Possible expansion of the bulk loading f a c i l i -ties at Prince Rupert was considered- these appeared to be contingent upon the a b i l i t y to attract the necessary volumes. While the nearest l i k e l y C.N. bulk source was coal from Alberta and possibly wheat unit trains from the Prairie provinces, the PGE could sustain the f a c i l i t i e s with additional coal from near Chetwynd and with the anticipated mineral resources along the Dease Lake extension. The Hazelton link would reduce the distance for resources extracted from along the PGE and destined for Prince Rupert by 400 miles (540 miles from the proposed junction via Prince George to Hazelton versus a 140 mile-new r a i l l i n k ) . Development of the port at Prince Rupert could reorient shipments destined for or originating from east of the Rocky Mountains away from Squamish /Vancouver/Roberts Bank. F i r s t l y , Vancouver could limit the size and num-ber of ships using i t s port f a c i l i t i e s . This, i n turn, could allow a change in waterfront uses and a reduction of spillages and pollution problems associated with waterfront industries. Secondly, the C.N. route through the -99-Fraser Canyon, an area subject to land and snow slides, could be avoided. Probably the most important conclusion of this thesis was an affirmation of the two-way effect of improved transportation linkages. The extensions of the PGE improved access to markets for small enterprises. The extensions also allowed interests (mostly outside) to consolidate the small enterprises in order to take advantage of the economies of scale offered by technological improvements. In this case, a railway, controlling adjacent land and focussing access through industrial parks, has been able to direct significantly the development of larger regions. The PGE has shown preference in its indus-t r i a l parks for bulk contributing companies. This preference has helped the process of consolidation small enterprises and to maintain a regional prim-ary industrial orientation. Prince George has offered an example of an urban development benefitted by technological improvements to a single industry and their focussing effects allowed by multiple railways access. As large volumes of forest products were transferring already at Prince George for eastern destinations, i t was a simple matter to further process these at that central place. With the advent of barkers and chippers at sawmill sites and the various PGE extensions, large quantities of woodchips could be shipped to Prince George for further processing. The establishment of a secondary sector of the forest products industry (pulp and paper) in Prince George provided extensive year around employment in a traditionally seasonable emplment industry. This increased employment stability allowed for an expansion of the.lof ...theelocalrservices sector. The larger population stimulated highway improvements which then propelled the local service sector into a regional one. Finally, the author's suspicion thattthe PGE development was largely based upon a unified development effort by the Social Credit Government was proved to be unfounded. Rather, substantial evidence indicates that regional development occurred as a result of separate reactions by Provincial agen-cies to the results of each other's policies. However, the Social Credit Party, being the party in government at the time of these developments, was able to reap political benefits as "the Party that gets things done." Before anyone considers the expansion of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway as an innovation of Premier W.A.C. Bennett he should recall these 19;49, remarks prior to the Bennett regime. -100-"British Columbia's Government-owned Pacific Great Eastern Railway, as i t climbs slowly northwards, i s a barometer of the vision, enter-prise, and optimism of i t s directorate. The enthusiasm of opportunity-conscious people who li v e i n the Interior of the Province, whom i t touches or w i l l touch as i t i s extended, rises exactly in proportion to the Government's programme of the Pacific Great Eastern expansion."-*'" Footnotes 1. Department of Railways, Province of British Columbia, Pacific Great Eastern Railway. Also Proposed Extensions and Potential Resources of Central Interior and Northern British Columbia. 1949 (Victoria. British Columbia: Queen's Printer, 1949), p.§8. 2. John C. Dawson, Northeastern British Columbia - An Economic Study (Vancouver, British Columbia: Strategic Planning and Development Department, Corporate Division, B.C. Hydro and Power Authority, 1970), p. 62 . 3. E.R. Black, "British Columbia: The Politics of Exploitation" in R.A. Shearer (ed.) Exploiting Our Economic Potential. Public Policy and the and the British Columbia Economy (Toronto?: Ontario: Holt, Rinehart and Winston of Canada Ltd., 1968), p. 35. 4. Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce, Economics and Statistics Branch, The Bulkley-Nechako Region (Victoria, British Columbia: Queen's Printer, 1970*), p. 57. 5. oJJohn C. Dawson, Op. Cit.. pp. 49-50. 6. K."Rymer, Traffic Manager, Weldwood of Canada, interview in December, 1971-7. Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce, Economics and Statistics Branch, The Cariboo-Chilcotin Region (Victoria, British Columbia: Queen's Printer, 1969), pp. 107-108. 8. R. Shearer, "The Development of the British Columbia Economy: The Record and the Issues" in R.A. Shearer (ed.) Exploiting Our Economic Potential. Public Policy and the British Columbia Economy (Toronto, Ontario: Holt, Rinehart and Winston of Canada Ltdv, 1968), p. 19. 9. E.R. Black, Op. Cit.. pp. 35-36. 10. Pacific Great Eastern Railway, Pacific Great Eastern Railway. Annual Report. 1971 (Vancouver, British Columbia: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, 1971), P. 12. 11. Correspondence received for the purposes of this thesis. 12 . John C. Dawson, Op. Cit.. pp. .21-22. 1 3 . Correspondence, Op. Cit. 14. R. Shearer, Op. Cit.. p. 20. . 15. John C. Dawson, The Mining Industry of British Columbia and the Yukon (Vancouver, British Columbia: Industrial Development Department, B.C. Hydro and Power Authority, 1968), with, update information. 16. G.L. Ritchie, Chief of Real Estate and Industrial Development, and R.W. Young,. Research Analyst, PGE, interview of December 1, 1971 . 17. Alex Young, "PGE Extensions Only Wait Ottawa Aid," The Vancouver Sun. I S ^ ^ e p a r W e r ^ o f Railways, Op. Cit., p. 11. -101--102-BIBLIOGRAPHY Associates, Charles River, Inc.. The Role of Transportation i n Regional Development. A State of the Art Report. PB 177 497. Cambridge, Massachuetts: Charles River Associates, Inc., 1967. ''B.C. 'Diamond Neclace , ! Bauble with New Sparkle", Financial Post. Vol. L, No. 46, November 17, 1956, p. 1. " B i l l Lets PGE build on B r i t t a n i a Land", The Vancouver Sun. February 2, 1965. Black, E.R., " B r i t i s h Columbia: The P o l i t i c s of Exploitation" i n R.A. Shearer (ed.) Exploiting Our Economic Potential. Public Policy and the B r i t i s h Columbia Economy. Toronto, Ontario: Holt, Rinehart and Winston of Canada Ltd., 1968. Broadbent, J.S., "Northern B r i t i s h Columbia - The Awakening Giant", P a c i f i c Great Eastern Railway, Vancouver, B r i t i s h Columbia, January 22, 1971. The Coupler. P a c i f i c Great Eastern Railway, Vancouver, B r i t i s h Columbia. Dawson, John C. The Mining Industry of B r i t i s h Columbia and the Yukon. Vancouver, B r i t i s h Columbia: In d u s t r i a l Development Department, B.C. Hydro and Power Authority, 1968. . . . Northeastern B r i t i s h Columbia - An Economic Study. Vancouver, B r i t i s h Columbia: Stragetic Planning and Development Department, Corporate Planning Division, B.C. Hydro and Power Authority, 1970. Denike, K.G. The Role of Transportation Investment i n Economic Development: B r i t i s h Columbia. Vancouver, B r i t i s h Columbia: Centre for Transportation Studies, University of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1972. Department of Commercial Transport, Province of B r i t i s h Columbia. Report of the Department of Commercial Transport. V i c t o r i a , B r i t i s h Columbia Queen's P r i n t e r . Department of Finance, Government of B r i t i s h Columbia. B r i t i s h Columbia. Financial and Economic Review. V i c t o r i a , B r i t i s h Columbia: Queen's Pr i n t e r . Department of In d u s t r i a l Development, Trade, and Commerce, Economics and S t a t i s t i c s Branch. B r i t i s h Columbia Minerals. Production and Trade. V i c t o r i a , B r i t i s h Columbia: Queen's Pr i n t e r , 1970. . . . B r i t i s h Columbia Pulp and Paper Industry. V i c t o r i a , B r i t i s h Columbia; Queen's Prin t e r , 1970. . . . B r i t i s h Columbia Trade Directory. 1971. V i c t o r i a , B r i t i s h Columbia: Queen's P r i n t e r , 1971 Department of I n d u s t r i a l Development, Trade, and Commerce, Economics and S t a t i s t i c s Branch. The Bulkley-Nechako Region. V i c t o r i a , B r i t i s h Columbia: Queen's Pr i n t e r , 1970. . . . The Cariboo-Ghilcotin Region. V i c t o r i a , B r i t i s h Columbia: Queen's Print e r , 1969. . . . Directory of I n d u s t r i a l Parks and Sites i n B r i t i s h Columbia. V i c t o r i a , B r i t i s h Columbia: Queen's Pri n t e r . . . . In d u s t r i a l Expansion i n B r i t i s h Columbia by Census Divisions. V i c t o r i a , B r i t i s h Columbia: Queen's Printer, annual. -103-. . . Manual of Resources and Development. Victoria, British Columbia: Queen's Printer, 1971. . . . Peace River-Liard Region Economic Study. Victoria, British Columbia: Queen's Printer, 1966. . . . The South Coastal Region Economic Study. Victoria, British Columbia: Queen's Printer, 1967 Department of Railways, Province of British Columbia. Pacific Great Eastern Railway. Also Proposed Extensions and Potential Resources of Central Interior and Northern British Columbia. 1949. Victoria, British Columbia: Queen's Printer, 1949. Dominion 'Bureau of Statistics, Transportation and Utilities Division, Transpor-tation Section. Railway Transport. Part 11. Financial Statistics. 52-208. Ottawa, Ontario: Queen's Printer, annual. . . . Railway Transport, Part 111. Equipment. Track, and Fuel Statistics| 52-209. Ottawa, Ontario: Queen's Printer, annual. . . . Railway Transport. Part IV. Operating and Traffic Statistics. 52-210. Ottawa, Ontario: Queen's Printer, annual. . . . Railway Transport. Part V. Freight Carried by Principal Commodity Classes. 52-211. Ottawa, Ontario: Queen's Printer, annual. . . . •1951 Census. Volume V. Ottawa, Ontario: Queen's Printer, 1952. . . . 1961 Census. Series 321. Ottawa, Ontario: Queen's Printer, 1962. Forest Service, Department of Lands, Forests, and Water Resources, Information Division. The Forests of British Columbia. Victoria, British Columbia: Queen's Printer, 1970. . . . .Sustained Yield from British Columbia's Forest Lands. Victoria, British Columbia: Queen's Printer, 1971. Friedel, E., Railway Engineer, Railways Department, B.C. Hydro and Power Authority. Telephone conversation in February, 1972. Gray, A.V. and W.T* Uegama. Investment Opportunities in British Columbia. , The Peace River Region. Dawson Creek, British Columbia: Peace River i Regional District Board, 1969. . . . Investment Opportunities in British Columbia. The Peace River Region. Industry Profiles. Dawson Creek, British Columbia: Peace River Regional District Board, 1969. "Hot PGE Fight Sets Road-Rail Policy", The Vancouver Province. March 26, 1952. Industry on the Move. Vancouver, British Columbia: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, 1968. Moody Transportation Manual. New York City, New York: Moody's Investors Service, annual. Nagle, George S. Economics and Public Policy in the Forestry Sector of British Columbia. New Haven, Connecticut: Doctoral dissertation presented at Yale University, 1970. Nesbitt, James K. "PGE Bond Selling 'Just Plain Force'", The Vancouver Sun. January 14, I960. Pacific Great Eastern Railway. Pacific Great Eastern Railway. Annual Report. Vancouver, British Columbia: Pacific Great Eastern Railway, annual. -104-"PGE D i r e c t o r s G i v e Reasons f o r S e l e c t i n g P i n e Pass R o u t e " , P r i n c e George C i t i z e n . November 24, 1955. "PGE P i c t u r e d as Road t o R u i n " , The Vancouver Sun. F e b r u a r y 9, 1965, p . 2. The Power o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . Vancouve r , B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a : I n d u s t r i a l Deve lopment Depa r tment , B .C . Hydro and Power A u t h o r i t y , 1967. P u r d y , H .L . T r a n s p o r t a t i o n C o m p e t i t i o n and P u b l i c P o l i c y i n Canada. V a n c o u v e r , B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a : U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , 1972. Ramsey, B r u c e . PGE: R a i l w a y t o t h e N o r t h . V a n c o u v e r , B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a : M i t c h e l l P r e s s , 1962. R i t c h i e , G . L . C h i e f o f R e a l E s t a t e and I n d u s t r i a l Deve lopment and R.W. Young, ^ R e s e a r c h A n a l y s t , P a c i f i c G r e a t E a s t e r n R a i l w a y . I n t e r v i e w o f December 1, 1971. S h e a r e r , R. "The Deve lopment o f t h e B r i t i s h Co lumb ia Economy: The Reco rd and t h e I s s u e s " i n R.A. S h e a r e r ( e d . ) E x p l o i t i n g Our Economic P o t e n t i a l . P u b l i c P o l i c y and t h e B r i t i s h Co lumb ia Economy. T o r o n t o , O n t a r i o : H o l t , R i n e h a r t and W i n s t o n o f Canada L t d . , 1968. Walden , F r a n k . "PGE P l a n s Speeded by T imber R e q u e s t s " , The Vancouver Sun . November 12, 1954. W i l k e n s E . G . , C h i e f P l a n n i n g E n g i n e e r , Department o f H ighways , P r o v i n c e o f ^ B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . I n t e r v i e w i n J a n u a r y , 1972. Young, A l e x . "PGE E x t e n s i o n s On l y W a i t Ottawa A i d " , The Vancouver Sun . J a n u a r y 28, 1972. -105-APPENDLX I: LETTER & INTERVIEW RESPONDEES Approximately 147 l e t t e r s were written by the author of t h i s thesis between November 5th- arid-jif-bhy • 1971. A l l were of the format and wording of the example on t h i s page with some modification made to the fourth paragraph varying with the industry addressed. Respondees to t h i s basic l e t t e r are l i s t e d on the following pages. November 10, 1971 Mr. L. Tremblay General Manager Tremblay Concrete Products Ltd. Dear Mr. Tremblay; I am presently a student attending the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of B r i t i s h Columbia. The Master's Degree programme here includes a t h e s i s which I am j u s t embarking upon. I believe your company may be of assistance towards my t h e s i s becoming more comprehensive. The subject of my thesis i s the P a c i f i c Great Eastern Railway and i t s implications f o r r e g i o n a l economic development. I am concerned with the i n d u s t r i e s which have located as a r e s u l t of the PGE's expan-sion and t h e i r e f f e c t s upon urbanized areas. I would appreciate whatever comments you have concerning how the PGE has affected your operations. I am p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t e r e s t e d i n the q u a l i t y of service your company receives from the PGE and what con-t r a c t u a l agreements your company may have with the PGE. I f i t i s at a l l p o s s i b l e , could you provide an approximation of the percentage of your f r e i g h t handled by the PGE and i t s approximate destinations (e.g. 50% of f r e i g h t by weight/handled: by PGE^ of ..which 50% goes to Vancouver, 25% goes to Prince George, and 25% goes to Fort Nelson; your approximate f r e i g h t loaded or unloaded would be needed)? Thank-you very much f o r your time and I greatly appreciate your help. Sincerely yours, Paul Gamble -106A L e t t e r and Interview Respondants Commercial Lumber Co. L t d . , L i l l o o e t , B.C., A. Tsumara Garner Bros. L t d . , (Cariboo), Quesnel, B.C., G.M. Howe Ferguson Sawmills L t d . , Lac l a Hache, B.C., P. Ferguson McMillan Contractors L t d . , Lone Butte, B.C., J.R. McMillan Tubafour Stud M i l l s L t d . , Quesnel, B.C., A.S. Hanson, Accountant Linde Bros Lumber L t d . , W i l l i a m s Lake, B.C., Fred Linde M e r r i l l & Wagner L t d . , W i l l i a m s Lake, B.C., R.L. Smith General Manager West Fraser Timber Co. L t d . , W i l l i a m s Lake, B.C., S.K. Ketcham, P r e s i d e n t Canadian Forest Products L t d . , Vancouver, B.C., B.A. Tombe, Manager, Wood Products Transportation B.C. Forest Products' L t d . , Vancouver, B.C., D. A. Saunders, Vice P r e s i d e n t , Mackenzie D i v i s i o n Weldwood of Canada L t d . , Vancouver, B.C., Ken Rymer, T r a f f i c Manager Ocean Cement L t d . , Vancouver, B.C., C.G. M o f f a t t , Sales & Shipping Canada Wire & Cable Co. L t d . , Vancouver,- B.C., C.G. Mostyn, B.C. D i s t r i c t Mgr. Brameda Resources L t d . , Vancouver, B.C., J.C. M i t c h e l l A s s i s t a n t to the President Seabord Shipping Co. L t d . , Vancouver, B.C., P.J. Raven, Manager D i s t r i b u t i o n Research Vancouver Wharves L t d . , North Vancouver, B.C., Wm.E. Ligertwood, Sales Mgr. Cariboo Cattlemen's A s s o c i a t i o n , A l k a l i Lake, B.C., M a r t i n von Riedemann Forest S e r v i c e , Government of the Province of B r i t i s h Columbia, V i c t o r i a , B.C. Eikos Consultants, Vancouver, B.C., E r i c K a r l s e n Regional D i s t r i c t of B u l k l e y - Nechako, Burns Lake, B.C., Wm.W. G i l g a n , Planning D i r e c t o r C i t y ' o f P r i n c e George, P r i n c e George, B.C., Harold A. M o f f a t , Mayor Regional D i s t r i c t of Cariboo, W i l l i a m s Lake, B.C., E. R.. H a l l s o r , Secretary-Treasurer D i s t r i c t of Squamish, Squamish, B.C., P.J. Brennan, Mayor Regional D i s t r i c t of Peace R i v e r - L i a r d , Dawson Creek, B.C., D.F.H. Hollman, D i r e c t o r of Planning Town of Quesnel, Quesnel, B.C., N. Kjemhus, A s s i s t a n t C l e r k - A d m i n i s t r a t o r V i l l a g e of Fort Nelson, F o r t Nelson, B.C., C o l i n J . G r i f f i t h , C l e r k Admin. Swanson Lumber Co. L t d . , Edmonton, A l b e r t a > R.F. Morland, D i v i s i o n a l Manager Canadian O c c i d e n t a l Petroleum L t d . , Taylor, James Shaw, Pla n t Superentendant P a c i f i c Petroleums L t d . , Calgary, A l b e r t a A'.M. Mcintosh, V i c e - P r e s i d e n t - Operations -107-Prince George Pulp and Paper Ltd., and Intercon'l Pulp Ltd., Prince George, B.C., R.J. Renwick, General Traffic Manager Northwood Pulp Ltd., Prince George, B.C., D. McKinnon, Traffic Coordinator Wood Lumber Co. Ltd., Dawson Creek, B.C., C.G. Wood Stuart Lake Lumber Co. Ltd., Fort St. James Tremblay Concrete Products Ltd., Dawson Creek, B.C., D.F. Dingle Cassiar Asbestos Corp. Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, A.C. Beguin Manager of Operations Finlay Forest Industries Ltd., Mackenzie, B.C., G.B. Fillinger, Sales Manager Alberta Wheat"Pool, Dawson Creek, B.C., D.H. Hillman Alberta Wheat Pool, Fort St. John, B.C., J.O. Hughson, Agent United Grain Growers,Ltd., .Fort St. John, B.C., Clarence Torst Clear Lake Saw Mills Ltd., Prince George, B.C., Douglas Struthers Lloyd Bros Lumber Co. Ltd., Prince George, B.C., Mrs. B. Osnes Ferguson Lake Sawmills Ltd., Prince George, B.C., Beverly Foreman West-Hill Lumber Co. Ltd., Prince George, B.C., J. Korodi Cariboo Cedar Products Ltd., 100 Mile House, B.C. -108-1. APPENDIX II: "WILLIAMS LAKE LEASE - HOLDERS ON P.G.E. INDUSTRIAL PROPERTIES 1. Cariboo Cattlemen's Association 2. Central Cariboo Co-Operative Association 3. Huston Agencies Ltd. 4. National Grain (1968) Limited 5. Williams Lake Building Supply Ltd. 6. Gulf Oil Company of Canada Ltd. 7. Home Oil Distributors Ltd. 8. Imperial Oil Limited 9. Pacific Petroleums Ltd. 10. Rockgas Propane Ltd. 11. Standard Oil Co. of B.C. Ltd.'. 12. Shell Oil of Canada Ltd. ." 13. Texaco Canada Limited 14. Jacobson Bros. Forest Products Ltd. -15. Lignum Limited 16. Merrill and Wagner Ltd. 17. Pinette & Therrien Planer Mills"' Ltd. 18. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd."::". : Stockyard Feed warehouse Warehouse - Beer Grain storage Warehouse Bulk o i l plant and warehouse Warehouse Bulk o i l plant Storage and marketing of petroleum products Liquified petroleum storage sales and distribution Petroleum products storage and warehouse Petroleum bulk plant Petroleum products bulk plant Manufacture of forest products Manufacture of forest products Manufacture of forest products Manufacture of forest products Manufacture'of forest products 2. QUESKEL 1. Kelly Douglas & Co. Ltd.-2. Simpson-Sears Limited-. 3. Home Oil Distributors Ltd. 4. Imperial Oil Limited 5. Shell Oil Co. of Canada Ltd. Warehouse Warehouse Petroleum products business Petroleum product marketing plant Petroleum products bulk plant TWO MILE FLAT - QUESNEL 1. R.G.^ Hobbs 2. North Cariboo Growers Co-Op Association Warehouse Warehouse -109-3. Canadian Propane Consolidated Ltd. 4. Gulf O i l Company of Canada Ltd. 5. Pacific Petroleums Ltd. 6. Union O i l Co. of Canada Ltd. 7. A.L. Patchett & Sons Ltd. 8. Tubafour Stud Mills Ltd. 3. PRINCE GEORGE Light Industrial Park . v II. Bentall Properties Ltd. (Slade and Stewart) 2. Birch Bark Holdings Ltd. 3. Brunette Machine Works Limited 4. Federated Co-Operatives Limited 5. Finning Tractor & Equipment Co. 6. Houg Enterprises Ltd. 7. Houg Enterprises Ltd. 8. '.Houg & Barrie Holdings Ltd. (not on trackage) 9. Kelly Douglas & Co. Ltd. 10. Lafarge Cement of North.America Ltd. 11. McMartin Machinery Ltd. (not on trackage) 12. National Caterers Ltd. 13. Ninety Seven Transfer Ltd. 14. Ocean Cement Limited 15. Pacific Terex Ltd. 16. Canadian Propane Consolidated Ltd. 17. Cigas Products Ltd. 18. Gulf O i l of Canada Ltd. 19. Husky O i l Canada Ltd. 20.]. Texaco Canada Limited Propane gas storage plant Bulk petroleum plant Petroleum products bulk station Petroleum bulk plant Lumber m i l l Lumber m i l l Warehouse - Produce Building Supply warehouse Machine Shop Feedmill and warehouse Industrial equipment Prestressed concrete manufacture Warehousing Industrial equipment sales Grocery and produce warehouse Cement handling operations Machinery sales and service Warehouse Warehousing and storage Bulk cement s i l o site Heavy equipment distributor Propane and butane bulk plant Propane storage terminal Petroleum bulk plant Travel centre and o i l bulk plant Bulk petroleum Plant 110-PRINCE GEORGE - Heavy Industry 1. Carrier Lumber Ltd. 2. Catel Construction & Equipment Co.. 3. Domtar Limited 4 . Hetherington Lumber Ltd. 5. Inland Chemicals Canada Ltd. 6. Netherlands Overseas Mills Ltd. 7. North Central Plywoods Ltd. 8. Rustad Bros. &Co. Ltd. 9. Thursday Lumber Co. Ltd. MACKENZIE (A) (Rail served) ' 1. ' Carrier Lumber Ltd. 1 2. Gulf O i l Company of Canada 3. Imperial O i l Limited Sawmill, planer m i l l and dry kil n Recovery sawmill Wood preserving Forest products storage and manufacture Manufacture of sulphuric acid and other chemicals Sawmill and planer m i l l site Plywood veneer m i l l Manufacture of forest products Planer m i l l , dry k i l n and storage Planer and sawmill site Petroleum Bulk plant Petroleum bulk plant (B) (Non-rail served) 1. '• Finning Tractor & Equipment Co. 2. H.A. Hansen & Associates Ltd.: 3. Mackenzie Redi-Mix Co. Ltd. 4 . • Mackenzie Welding Ltd. 5. Morfee Lake Services Ltd. 6. Morfee Lake Services Ltd. 7. Howard Roy 8. Wire Rope Industries of Canada Industrial equipment sales : Light machinery sales, shops, warehousing and office space Cement plant Steel warehouse, steel fabrica-tion, and machine shop •Building materials warehouse Truck shop and storage Propane gas handling and storage Warehouse DAWSON CREEK 1. Alberta Pool Elevators Ltd. 2. Bee-Kay Distributors of B.C. Ltd. Grain elevator Warehousing -111-3. B.C. Hydro and Power Authority 4. Foster's Seed and Feed 5. National Grain Company Ltd. 6. Northwest Wood Preservers Ltd. 7. Patterson's Auction Mart Ltd. 8. Scott National Co. Ltd. 9. Spir-L-Ok Industries Northern Ltd. FORT ST. JOHN 1. Alberta Pool Elevators Limited 2. Federal Grain Ltd. 3. Foster's Seed and Feed Ltd. 4. Imperial O i l Limited 5.. Patterson's Auction Mart Ltd. 6. James Richardson & Sons Limited 7. United Grain Growers Ltd. 8. Gulf O i l of Canada 9. S h e l l O i l Co. of Canada Ltd. 10. Union O i l of Canada Ltd. 11. Kap's Transport Ltd. 12. Northwest O i l f i e l d Services Ltd. 13. Tower Trucking Ltd. 14Vc B.J. Services of Canada Ltd. 15. Canadian Baroid Sales Ltd. 16. Cardiam Supply Ltd. 17. Dowell of Canada 18. Dresser Industries Inc. Pole Storage Grain storage and shipping . Grain elevator, feed plant and warehouse, f e r t i l i z e r bulk plant Manufacture of forest products . and wood treatment plant 75 Stockyard s i t e Warehouse for f r u i t and vegetables Steel warehouse Grain elevator and f e r t i l i z e r storage and seed warehouse Grain elevator and f e r t i l i z e r storage F e r t i l i z e r and seed cleaning F e r t i l i z e r warehouse Feed warehouse Seed processing, f e r t i l i z e r , feed, grain and a g r i c u l t u r a l chemical business Grain elevator and f e r t i l i z e r storage Petroleum products marketing Bulk petroleum plant Petroleum bulk plant Pipe and o i l f i e l d equipment storage Pipe, storage yard Pipe and casing storage O i l w e l l servicing f a c i l i t i e s Warehouse - mud and chemical Bulk sand tank storage and warehouse Bulk sand plant and unloading auger Warehouse and storage - mud and chemical -112-19. Halliburton O i l Well Cementing Ltd. 20. International D r i l l i n g Fluids Ltd. 21. Milwhite Mud Sales Co'; Ltd. 22. H.L. Powell Ltd. 23. Wainoco O i l & Chemicals Ltd. 24. B.C. Hydro and Power Authority 25. Lafarge Canada Ltd. 26. Rico Machinery and Leasing Co. 27. Swanson Lumber Co. Ltd. 8. FORT ST. JAMES 1. Imperial O i l Limited 2. Standard O i l of B.C. Limited;* 33• Stuart Lake Lumber Co. Ltd. 4. Takla Forest Products Ltd. 5. Takla Logging Co. Ltd. 9. PFORT NELSON 1. Consolidated Hydrocarbons Limited 2. Gulf O i l of Canada 3. Imperial O i l Limited 4. Pacific Petroleums Ltd. 5. Texaco Canada Limited 6. Union O i l Company of Canada 7. Baroid of Canada Ltd. i>8. International D r i l l i n g Fluids 9. Milchem Canada Limited 110. R.E. Cyre- Trucking Ltd. 11. Dominion Steel Ltd. 12. Lafarge Canada Ltd. 13. Ocean Cement Limited Unloading cement, additives and chemicals Warehouse - mud and chemical Warehouse - mud and chemical Warehousing and distributing d r i l l i n g muds Warehousing - mud and chemical Pole storage Cement distribution Warehouse Manufacture of forest products Petroleum bulk plant O i l bulk plant Manufacture of forest products Forest products complex Equipment maintenance depot Propane bulk plant Petroleum bulk plant Petroleum bulk plant Petroleum bulk plant Petroleum bulk plant Bulk petroleum marketing f a c i l i t i e s Warehousing for d r i l l i n g mud and chemicals Warehousing - mud and chemical Oilwell supply warehouse Cement and general warehousing Steel and pipe warehousing Cement distribution Bulk cement storage -113-APPENDIX I I I MAJOR COMPONENTS OF PGE FREIGHT IN THOUSANDS OF TONS, ANNUAL, 1951-1970 tO r-i O O e i-4 bOO CD • 23 CV-o o CV bO • '•- O N o o o o C\2 CN 8 o o o o « • -tf O O -tf cn cn o o bOO 3 bOO -tf m O N rH o- -tf 8 P o o o b O O a c-o co O N bO cna bOO a bOO bO O N r H O O O Oi vO vO O O O O rH CO, cn H cn -tf O N • • i n rH O O o o O bO N O O N X) 0) ~o X) Q> cd X) O cd i—I Q .fl c - cv • • cn ON oo tr-rH rH O O O O H O N O CV o cn ft • CV H vo m N O cn cn cn cn i n -4-o cv O H rH rH i n O N i-3 O H CV cnco rH H O O rH tO K> CV -tf rH O N N O CO O rH cn cn o cv • • -tf cn o o o^ cn c - cv to O N rH to to tO vO to to o o O rH CO -tf to cn m i n cv cv o o ONvO • • C - cv cn rH rH cnto cv m to to to -tf -tf -tf sO c-• • c n n O m -tf H O N O r-i ON »n ON O N O N r-i rH cn^c —i m • • cv m -tf N O •O r-i r-i r-i r-i r-i CO CV • • -tf-tf CV o • « -tf-to cv -O • « o cv e n o > N O cv -to o NO O N r-i cv —i i n • • n cn cn c> O N O cn -v cn • • -o cn n c --tf H r-i N O O N •N.B.: N.L. i s Not L i s t e d , Neg i s l e s s than 50 tons A l l f i g u r e s rounded to nearest 100 tons SAND & WHEAT OATS BARLEY CATTLE GRAVEL ASPHALT S^ULPHUR ' ASBESTOS LOGS L 52.4 21.0 50.4 3.8 194.4 1.9 71.0 7.8 282.1 U 1963 18.0 4.5 9.7 ,3-4 195.1 .8 7.4 6.2 282.8 L 41.6 11.7 51.2 3.4 16.0 1.0 68.6 10.2 288.9 U 1964 23.3 2.7 9.2 2.5 16.5 3.4 9.4 4.1 290.4 "L 65.4 12.8 74.9 3.1 168.4 .5 88.5 26.6 309.4 U 1965 21.0 2.6 17.2 2.2 169.3 6.1 27.1 16.6 299.2 L 70.1 9.0 64.0 2.8 .6 .4 77.6 8.3 236.4 U 1964 40.8 3.4 v 16.7 1.8 1.6 2.9 33.5 3.3 225.9.c; Loaded on PGE 66.2&i rl5.2 99.4 1.4 13.0 .2 57.2 9.6 164.4 Received from Other — Neg 0 0 0 1.2 7.9 -.9 2..U Unloaded on PGE 26.9 • 3,3 33.6 1.1 14.0 • 8.1 30.8 6.1' 162.9 Delivered Other 39.4 11.9 65.8 • 3 .2 .1 26.5 3.5 3.6 1967 L 70.6 11.5 78.8 1.6 0 .1 54.0 11.8 236.9 R 0 0 0 0 .1 4.7 0 .1 1.5 U 54.7 3.8 23.8 .9 .1 4.7 27.2 1.9 234.8 D 1968 15.8 7.7 55.6 .8 0 Neg 26.8 10.0 3.7 L i - - 126.4 25.2 97.5 1.2 14.2 .7 55.5 24.9 291.7 R 0 .1 0 0 .4 2.1 0 0 2.1 U 41.9 5.9 24.7 .3 14.6 2.7 47.0 5.1 289.7 D 1969 84.4 19.4 72.8 .9 0 .1 8.5 19.8 4.1 L 111.4 26.4 100.4 .3 17.5 .1 61.5 19.0 288.9 R Neg Neg-c 0 0 .1 2.2 0 .0 0 U 22.7 5.0 26.0 Neg 17.6 2.3 13.4 6.5 288.3 D 1970 88.7 21.4 74.3 .3 0 0 48.1 12.5 .5 C h i p s R e f i n e d R . R . T i e s P u l p w o o d Lumber V e n e e r G a s o l i n e F u e l O i l s O i l s ( C h e m i c a l s F e r t i l i z e r ~ 20.6 Neg 165.6 1.2 5.7 3.8 N . L . N.i,L, Neg 1951 0 0 .6 Neg 9.8 7.3 .3 1952 28.6 1.6 184.3 9.1 6.1 4.3 N . L . N . L . .2 0 0 .1 0 10.7 11.1 .6 1953 18.6 0 305.7 16.2 8.0 8.2 N . L . N . L . Neg 0 • 0 .3 .1 1419 11.7 .5 1954 N . L . 0 434.6 13.1 4.0 5.3 N . L . .3 0 0 .4 .1 26.6 18.7 0 1.1 1955 N . L . 0 623.6 15.9 . -8 7.4 N . L . .5; .1 0 1.2 Neg 28.8 28.2 .1 .1 1956 N.L. .1 718.1 15.7 Neg 11.0 N . L . .7 .1 .1 103.8 .5 32.6 48.4 .7 .2 1V5V 29.6 Neg 521.0 16.8 6.1 14.6 .7 .3 0 25.8 Neg 32.8 .5 32.8 49.9- 2.7 .7 • 3 1958 20.1 0 731.3 25.2 5.2 5,5 1.0 .3 Neg 19.8 0 57.7 1.1 36.8 38.3 2.7 . -9 .4 1959 11.3 0 995.5 26.2 4.0 3.7 3.7 .6 0 11.3 0 110.7 1.6 35.2 41.1 1.8 1.5 .2 i960 27.1 0 889.4 22.7 116 . 2.7 20.9 .3 Neg 27.1 0 92.8 1.7 32.6 39.0 2.6 1.4 .5 1961 22.2 0 932.2 23.9 13.2 4.6 14.7 .2- • - Neg 22.1 0 108.8 2.5 44.9 38.1 3.0 1.4 1.1 1962 . 8.6 0 992.5 23.9 14.9 4.9 24.6 .4 • Neg 8.6 0 113.2 3.0 48.8 •42.5 5.9 2.1 1.7 Chips Refined R.R. Ties Pulpwood Lumber \Veneer Gasoline "Fuel Oils Oils Chemicals Fertilizer 19~ol 78 2.9 1,190.6 2577 19.2 - 8V3 2975 Ti .1 .8 2.9 171.9 2.1 55.0 44.5 . 5.6 3.2 2.4 1964 : 3T3 40.5 1,232 .6 3672 26~79 ~1672 22T2 ii2~ TT 2.5 40 .6 209 .4 5.4 66.8 64.5 6.5 3.6 3.1 19"6l 3 2 8 7 . 7 1 ,154.6 6*874 34T1 2072 22JI 172 0 .5 288.3 206 .0 4 .6 79.2 67.9 16.0 4.5 ,02.9 1 9 5 5 0 515.5 1,024.6 I I 8 .3 joTz 24I4 23T9 29T2 ^4 .3 538.0 132 .2 6 . 4 70.3 69.0 6.9 26.9 5 .0 .9 823.0 1,240.8 I38.I 52.6 31.1 40.5 • 54.0 .1 0 37.9 1.5 1.8 37 .6 38 .8 • .3 12.4 7.9 .7 860.9 113.9 5.3 82.2 67.1 8 .3 54.3 8^.0 1967 .2 .1 1,128.5 134.6 8.0 2.8 32 .6 12.1 0 TI 1,036.3 1,456.1 160.6 69T4 4271 5777 48.0 ! TT-0 8.2 1.6 1.5 15.8 20.5 .7 14.9 8.5 Neg 1,043.5 104.9 3.4 75.3 54.7 20.3 52.7 8.6 1968 Neg 1.0 1,352.9 158.8 9.9 7.9 38.I 10.3 0 .2 1,287.9 1,381.1 196.6 80.5 41.9 66.5 20.1 .1 0 0 1.4 1.8 17.2 18.6 .9 7.2 9.4 .2 1,287.9 89.8 5.3 71.9 51.0 43-3 21.0 9.5 1969 0 0 1,292.7 193.2 25.8 9.5 24.1 6.2 - . 0 .8 1,244.1 1,545.5 214.4 77.7 56.4 57.4 10.4 0 .2 0 2.9 1.6 20.4 21.1 6.1 9.9 4.8 11.0 1,243.9 139.4 7.7 76.8 68.8 27.V2 18.3 4 .8 1970 0 .2 1,409.4 208.3 21.4 8.7 35.3 2.9 0 Iron & Castings Wrapping Canned Total Steel Manu. Machinery Cement Woodpulp Paper Beverages Goods Freight 1 9 5 1 3 . 0 4 . 5 4 . 8 0 N.L. . 7 . 1 310 .7 . 4 . 7 . 2 0 M siJC • 3 • 3 2 9 1 7 1 9 5 2 4 . 2 5 . 5 3 . 7 0 N.L. . 3 . 2 4 0 9 . 5 . 4 1 . 2 . 1 0 0 • 3 3 4 . 7 1 9 5 3 1 . 7 4 . 1 4 . 4 0 N.L. 1 . 5 . 5 5 6 0 . 2 1 . 5 2 . 0 Neg 0 0 . 2 4 5 . 0 1 9 5 4 2 . 1 3 - 5 8 . 8 0 N.L. 1 . 4 4 . 5 7 2 6 . 1 1 . 9 1 . 9 0 0 0 1 . 7 6 8 . 7 1 9 5 5 3 . 8 8 . 8 1 6 . 0 0 N.L. 1 . 6 1 2 . 0 9 4 1 . 4 5 . 0 1 . 7 . 4 0 00 3 - 5 9 6 . 8 1 9 5 6 4 0 . 8 7 . 8 1 6 . 0 0 OG 5 . 5 8 . 5 1,047 .5 83.O 1 0 . 3 1 6 . 5 0 0 5 . 5 1 0 . 4 5 5 9 . 2 1 9 5 7 - 4 2 . 6 1 5 . 1 2 7 . 6 0 Neg 1 0 . 0 7 . 9 9 4 3 - 1 6 4 U 1 5 . 9 2 8 . 8 . 0 Neg 7 . 9 9 . 5 5 2 8 . 5 1 9 5 8 15.5 1 2 , 1 31 . 9 0 Neg 6 . 1 13 . 3 1 , 1 0 4 . 0 23 .5 1 0 . 3 3 3 . 6 0 Neg 6 . 2 1 6 . 4 4 8 9 . 5 1959 1 6 . 9 1 2 . 4 2 7 . 0 0 0 6 . 7 1023 1 , 4 5 6 . 4 1 9 . 7 1 2 . 6 2 9 . 2 0 0 7 . 0 1 2 . 2 5 9 0 . 8 I960 1 0 . 5 13 . 1 1 7 . 8 . 1 0 4 . 3 6 . 4 1 , 4 6 5 . 3 30 . 7 1 5 . 4 2 4 . 3 . 1 0 9 . 7 7 . 6 6 7 7 . 5 1 9 6 1 5 0 . 3 1 1 . 2 23 . 3 0 0 1 . 5 . 7 1 , 5 1 8 . 1 6O.3 13 . 0 2 7 . 2 0 Neg 1 4 . 8 2 . 7 665.O 1 9 6 2 1 2 . 7 1 2 . 5 2 2 . 0 0 0 1 . 8 1 . 4 1 , 6 1 0 . 9 2 4 . 0 1 2 . 8 . 23 . 0 0 Neg 1 6 .3 2 . 1 707 .4 Castings Wrapping Canned Total Steel Manu. Machinery Cement Woodpulp Paper Beverages Goods Freight 1963 . 9.0 13.4 68.8 0 0 5.0 2.7 2,152.1 18.5 15.6 68.9 0 0 17.1 2.9 1,057.9 1964 28.1 21.3 47.7 0 0 11.1 4.7 2,088.2 76.6 36.2 48.9 0 0 18.5 5.6 1,095.1 1965 15.9 23.0 51.1 0 Neg 7.0 2.4 2,526.2 37.7 30.3 52.6 0 Neg 12.2 4.0 1,513.0 1966 31.7 19.7 32.0 51.6 12.1 8.1 3.5 2J498.3 62.6 24.5 59.0 32.5 9.7 13.8 5.3 1,550.3 63 .8 22.5 68.0 109.0 60.1 9.3 3.6 3,248.5 20.1 12.0 43.2 .1 0 7.1 1.9 304.0 8 3 . 2 33.0 110.4 80.5 59.0w 16.4 5.4 2,041.3 1967 .6 1.6 .7 28.6 1.1 Neg 0 1,511.2 9.0 22.4 40.3 205.8 70.9 8.7 3.4 3,869.0 14.2 8.3 28.2 0 0 7.3 1.9 261.6 21.7 24.8 68.4 • 175.3 68.6 15.9 5.2 2 ,383 .6 1968 1.5 5.9 .1 30.5; 2.3 .1 Neg 1,747.0 7.9 25.1 21.6 333.5 89.9 9.3 3.6 4,339.1 12.0 6.9 10.5 0 .1 5.4 3.2 244.9 • 18.7 26.5 32.0 271.9 79.3 14.7 6.8 2,733.8 1969 1.2 5.6 • .1 61.6 1Q.8 0 0 1,850.2 27.6 22.-1.;. 15.4 315.7 77.0 10.2 40.8 4,477.1 30.6 4.0 1115 0 U 5.5 2.7 268.8 57.8 2 3 . 2 26 .9 281.4 74.4 15.6 43.6 2,757.7 1970 .4 2.9 0 34.3 2.7 .1 0 1,988.3 -119-APPENDIX IV CONSIDERATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 13 December 1971 Dear Mr. Gamble, Thank you for your letter of 7 December 1971. I doubt that I'm going to be as helpful as you would hope because to answer fully your questions would take as much research for me as i t would for you — and thank God my days of thesis-writing are behind mel However I might be able to give you a few ideas which may not have struck you to follow up i f they sound right. The PGE of course had its greatest impact on the ranching industry when i t was first built. Prior to that, cattle from the Williams Lake area had to be driven on the hoof to Ashcroft or with great speculation to the goldfields of Barkerville or the Klondike. If you consider that cattle on such a drive can travel no more than 10 or 15 miles a day, i t takes no more than a map and a minimum of imagination to visualize what hell a drive like that could be. Spend 30 minutes someday reading "Klondike Cattle Drive" by Norman Lee. Then you could even visit his step-son Dan Lee at Alexis Creek for more details on the l i f e . The coming of the PGE to this area changed the need for such drives. Recently, the influence of the PGE on the cattle industry has been declining mainly due to the increased competition of the trucking industry. As a rough estimate, 15 years ago probably 99% of the cattle moving out of the area went by r a i l — today, i t is probably closer to 15 or 20%. Due to the increase in volume being produced, the actual number of animals being moved by r a i l may not be that much smaller — a point worth checking. It would also appear that the management of the PGE is not actively encouraging the shipment of cattle by r a i l . There have been many complaints from the ranching industry about the poor service of the PGE — mainly lack of cattle-cars at auction-sale times. The fault does not l i e entirely with the PGE I suspect, but equally with the other railways upon which the PGE must rely for these cars. The result is a depressed price for the producer because the buyer at a sale will not pay a premium price for cattle in Williams Lake i f he knows he .has to keep them, feed them and care for them a number of days before he can ship them out. There is at present a small meat packing plant in operation in Williams Lake which appears prosperous., I would consider i t very feasible for a full-scale industry to do well under someone with the capital, initiative and knowledge to get i t started. It has. always struck me as ludicrous that I might sell a steer in Williams Lake which then goes to Alberta to be fed grain; i t might then go to Vancouver to be. butchered; then i t could come back to the Safeway in Williams Lake to be sold to my neighbour as beefsteak. The Alberta Wheat Board plays its part in that particular game of ring-around-the-rosie — as do various Freight Assistance Acts. The net result, however, is inevitably a grossly inflated price for the poor housewife buying the final product. From a community planning point of view, the PGE by its very nature has done l i t t l e to improve the somewhat narrow and one-sided development of -120-the Cariboo. People, to make a very broad generalization, came either from a profit-orientated motive, or escapism. They would have come with or without the PGE. Agriculture, logging and mining are the three major indus-tries of the Cariboo and obviously while no longer absolutely vital to them as it was in the past, is still of great assistance to all of them. I am by no means an expert, but I would -think a railroad does little to encourage the growth of secondary industry. The Cariboo certainly lacks secondary industries and they are invaluable to an area should .one.Of-the; primary industries falter. There is considerable summer-time tourism in the Cariboo but it is probably not affected too much one way or another (although I am sure there are those who would disagree) by the PGE. — even though the Vancouver/Williams Lake trip on the train is one of the most fantastic in'the Province, The cultural and social effects of tourism on an area are 'not hard to notice — the economic ones are nebulous and difficult to determine. I don't know to what depth you want your thesis to go, but to do a really good job of it and bring in the human rather than only statistical evidence, I would think you'll have to come up here, notebook in hand, and just talk to a few people. Generally they won't take the trouble to write a lengthy letter, but will be full of ideas, knowledge and suggestions if you face •em eyeball to eyeball and fire off a few questions. Starting right at home in your own department, see professor Bob Collier. He has been concerned with Eikos Consultants Ltd. which has just finished a two-year planning study of the entire Cariboo Regional District and even if he doesn't have it.all right at his fingertips, he can put you on to Erik Karlsen, Ron Mann Or Art Cowie who may come-up with more. I don't know what has happened to Dave Zirnhelt now (he was working with Peter Oberlander not long ago) but, Bob Collier would know, Dave comes from the Cariboo and should be a source of good ideas too. Incidentally, when you do see Bob Collier, do please give him my best and tell him 1 was sorry to have missed him the last time he was up here. Then, if you make it up to Williams. Lake, the first person to see would be the district agriculturalist, Ted Cornwall. He has plenty of info., is both interested and interesting, and can put you on to other people and some good reference books to beef up your bibliography. You'd want to find representatives from the logging and lumbering industry (e.g. Harold Jacobson, Whitey Anderson, Sam Ketcham) because today, that's*where most of the PGE business comes from. It might be worth having a chat with someone from the new pulp mill in Quesnel to find, out whether it could have opened up with-out the PGE. You would need- a more qualified opinion than mine from the tourist industry and also from the mining industry (Gibralter Mines has just opened up near Williams Lake; Brynnor's Boss Mountain Mine has just closed down near ,100 Mile House — Mayor Ross Marks of 100 Mile House might be of help to you). Someone like Gay Bayliff (Chilancoh 'Ranch, Alexis Creek, B.C.) could give you plenty of background about ranching in pre-PGE days. For general background, the present mayor of Quesnel, Ceal Tingley has been around a long time and might1 be worth chatting to. The past mayor of Quesnel, Alex Fraser, is now Social Credit M.L.A. in Victoria and would.also be help-ful. In Williams Lake, the past mayor Herb Gardener would be sure to come up with some-quoteable quotes. For a good businessman's idea, see Tom Mason -121-at take City Ford. Then there is Mr. C D . Stevenson who is now retired but could give you mining information both pre- and post-PGE days plus any amount of historical background on the development of the Cariboo. Ron Waite, representing the PGE, would be a must on your list. Clive Stangoe, owner/editor/publisher of the William's Lake Tribune, would have some very positive ideas on the subject and might even give you access to some of his files. You could write to any of these people, but you wouldn't get one tenth as much as if you spoke to them personally. And the trip could be quite fun. Please feel free to use my name if you want to when contacting any of them. Hope this will help you along. Yours sincerely, Martin v. Riedemann Alkali Lake Ranch Ltd. Alkali Lake, B.C.