The Canadian Economy and the Core-Periphery Concept
The Core-Periphery Concept is an economic model that has been used to explain the strong centralization of the Canadian economy around the Great Lakes – St Lawrence Lowlands region. Like a spokes of a wheel, the peripheral territories lead to the economic center of the country that stretches along the Windsor-Quebec corridor. This framework identifies the core region as a region having good agricultural lands, high levels of industry and urbanization along with a close proximity to markets. The Periphery, on the other hand, would be territories where the economies are focused on resource production with scattered populations and “weakly integrated urban systems”.
With sixty percent of Canada’s population living within the “heartland” of the Great Lakes – St Lawrence Lowlands region, it is obvious that they have well developed urban systems and infrastructure. This region boasts possession of half the nation’s metropolitan areas and high quality agricultural soils. The region is culturally divided by the French speaking majority in Quebec province and the English dominated Ontario. The region has always dominated the nation economically. They started with fur trade, timber exports, and wheat production and used profits from their sales to stimulate demand for local goods. These actions gave birth to the manufacturing sector. After the formation of the Confederation the core was further developed with the application of tariffs on foreign imports. This served to increase internal demands for Canadian goods, and to force foreign companies to build branch plants within Canadian borders to avoid them. The core attracted these companies with cheap hydropower out of the Niagara region, especially the auto industry. After the signing of the NAFTA treaty, however, companies lost their incentive for building branch plants in Canada, and thousands of Canadian jobs were consequentially lost. Over time, all of the old plants that sprang up following confederation had grown rusty and inefficient. Cities like Montreal attempted to diversify their economies. Montreal played host to the World Fair and Expo 67, as well as the 1976 Summer Olympics in order to attract industry to the region. But with the election of Parti Quebecois parliament members, speculations of political and economic instability sent corporate headquarters scrambling from the region to set up shop in Toronto and Calgary. As a result Toronto became the premier city and financial capital of Canada.
The Atlantic region has the country’s highest levels of unemployment, and lowest levels of cash. It consists of the provinces of Newfoundland, Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. In adherence to the Core-Periphery model the Atlantic Provinces – as a member of the periphery – has a resource based economy. Their industries traditionally centered on fishing, ship building, forestry and mining. Nowadays, these industries are in severe decline. Causes for the decline – and subsequent tanking of the Atlantic economy – can be traced to the overfishing of Cod in the northern Atlantic Ocean, the lack of arable land around the coastal villages, and the region’s distance from other Canadian and American markets. Diversification would be a remedy to the region’s economic troubles. How to diversify is another challenge. Oil has been found off the coast in Hibernia and Terra Nova, and nickel mining is gaining ground as well in the region. Some groups are even pushing for an increase in the tourism industry, despite the region’s short winters. These solutions however would do little to dispel the Core-periphery theory, and in fact may only support it as two of the proposed methods of diversifying the economy are still resource based.
The Prairies (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) are another peripheral region in the network of the Canadian economy. As a rather homogenous region, the Prairies are a sparsely populated area with minimal manufacturing and resource based economies (primarily agriculture). Traditionally, the region’s economy was dominated by the Hudson Bay Company, railroads, and agricultural production. The region was heralded as the “last agricultural frontier in North America” but it was hindered by its relatively short growing seasons and unreliable precipitation that stymied production. Nowadays, the region has grown more prosperous. With the development of the marquis strain of wheat, agricultural production has grown significantly. Farming has changed, however, from a labor intensive industry to a capital intensive one where farmers rely more upon technology than workers. This shift has seen a loss of jobs and a subsequent mass exodus from the rural areas toward the cities. The NAFTA agreement has also hindered the Prairies. Where the farmers once enjoyed subsidized railroad transportation to reach faraway markets, now those subsidies are deemed as “unfair” and are no longer allowed under the agreement. Recently, new minerals and resources have been discovered: potash, uranium, nickel and even oil. The latter of which has seen rapid development along the Calgary-Edmonton corridor as oil wealth was brought into the region. Tourism and recreation in the Rockies brings in revenue as well.
Unlike the rest of the nation, British Colombia developed in relative isolation due to its geographic location on the other side of the continental divide. British Colombia has the most diverse climate north of the 49th parallel. BC joined the confederacy on the condition that a railroad would be built to the Pacific Ocean to connect it to the rest of the country. The railroad was built too, primarily by Chinese immigrants. The region is rich in resources: silver, lead, zinc, copper, gold, natural gas, oil, and coal. The region is also popular for its role in the salmon economy (though overfishing and river-damming is threatening the persistence salmon population). Unlike other peripheral regions, British Colombia has the potential to rise to the top as a new core. Manufacturing is booming around Vancouver. The capital is also the most important trade port in the nation. BC also boasts a large service economy. The author does note that BC is hindered in becoming a new core by its “dependence on a single market”.
The largest region in Canada is the vast North. The North is the least populated of the regions, but is home to a myriad of native peoples. It is notorious for its long cold winters, short cool summers, and low precipitation levels. Despite the low levels of rain, the area supports large areas of coniferous forests. Much of the land’s foundation is settled atop thick layers of permafrost that are being threatened by the warming of the globe. Traditionally, the region’s economy was based on native traditions and whaling. Nowadays, the native ways are in a contest with a new force: Industrial Capitalism.
The core-periphery model would appear to apply to the Canadian economy. The Core region (Great Lakes – St Lawrence Region) with its great manufacturing base is fed by the resource rich peripheral regions that funnel their resources (and wealth) to them. This process has been amplified with the application of a trans-continental railroad system, but is threatened by the rise of the British Colombia region. Whether the system can work with two cores is yet to be seen, but if Vancouver manages to play her cards right we may just get an interesting show.
The Core-Periphery Concept is an economic model that has been used to explain the strong centralization of the Canadian economy around the Great Lakes – St Lawrence Lowlands region. Like a spokes of a wheel, the peripheral territories lead to the economic center of the country that stretches along the Windsor-Quebec corridor. This framework identifies the core region as a region having good agricultural lands, high levels of industry and urbanization along with a close proximity to markets. The Periphery, on the other hand, would be territories where the economies are focused on resource production with scattered populations and “weakly integrated urban systems”.
With sixty percent of Canada’s population living within the “heartland” of the Great Lakes – St Lawrence Lowlands region, it is obvious that they have well developed urban systems and infrastructure. This region boasts possession of half the nation’s metropolitan areas and high quality agricultural soils. The region is culturally divided by the French speaking majority in Quebec province and the English dominated Ontario. The region has always dominated the nation economically. They started with fur trade, timber exports, and wheat production and used profits from their sales to stimulate demand for local goods. These actions gave birth to the manufacturing sector. After the formation of the Confederation the core was further developed with the application of tariffs on foreign imports. This served to increase internal demands for Canadian goods, and to force foreign companies to build branch plants within Canadian borders to avoid them. The core attracted these companies with cheap hydropower out of the Niagara region, especially the auto industry. After the signing of the NAFTA treaty, however, companies lost their incentive for building branch plants in Canada, and thousands of Canadian jobs were consequentially lost. Over time, all of the old plants that sprang up following confederation had grown rusty and inefficient. Cities like Montreal attempted to diversify their economies. Montreal played host to the World Fair and Expo 67, as well as the 1976 Summer Olympics in order to attract industry to the region. But with the election of Parti Quebecois parliament members, speculations of political and economic instability sent corporate headquarters scrambling from the region to set up shop in Toronto and Calgary. As a result Toronto became the premier city and financial capital of Canada.
The Atlantic region has the country’s highest levels of unemployment, and lowest levels of cash. It consists of the provinces of Newfoundland, Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. In adherence to the Core-Periphery model the Atlantic Provinces – as a member of the periphery – has a resource based economy. Their industries traditionally centered on fishing, ship building, forestry and mining. Nowadays, these industries are in severe decline. Causes for the decline – and subsequent tanking of the Atlantic economy – can be traced to the overfishing of Cod in the northern Atlantic Ocean, the lack of arable land around the coastal villages, and the region’s distance from other Canadian and American markets. Diversification would be a remedy to the region’s economic troubles. How to diversify is another challenge. Oil has been found off the coast in Hibernia and Terra Nova, and nickel mining is gaining ground as well in the region. Some groups are even pushing for an increase in the tourism industry, despite the region’s short winters. These solutions however would do little to dispel the Core-periphery theory, and in fact may only support it as two of the proposed methods of diversifying the economy are still resource based.
The Prairies (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) are another peripheral region in the network of the Canadian economy. As a rather homogenous region, the Prairies are a sparsely populated area with minimal manufacturing and resource based economies (primarily agriculture). Traditionally, the region’s economy was dominated by the Hudson Bay Company, railroads, and agricultural production. The region was heralded as the “last agricultural frontier in North America” but it was hindered by its relatively short growing seasons and unreliable precipitation that stymied production. Nowadays, the region has grown more prosperous. With the development of the marquis strain of wheat, agricultural production has grown significantly. Farming has changed, however, from a labor intensive industry to a capital intensive one where farmers rely more upon technology than workers. This shift has seen a loss of jobs and a subsequent mass exodus from the rural areas toward the cities. The NAFTA agreement has also hindered the Prairies. Where the farmers once enjoyed subsidized railroad transportation to reach faraway markets, now those subsidies are deemed as “unfair” and are no longer allowed under the agreement. Recently, new minerals and resources have been discovered: potash, uranium, nickel and even oil. The latter of which has seen rapid development along the Calgary-Edmonton corridor as oil wealth was brought into the region. Tourism and recreation in the Rockies brings in revenue as well.
Unlike the rest of the nation, British Colombia developed in relative isolation due to its geographic location on the other side of the continental divide. British Colombia has the most diverse climate north of the 49th parallel. BC joined the confederacy on the condition that a railroad would be built to the Pacific Ocean to connect it to the rest of the country. The railroad was built too, primarily by Chinese immigrants. The region is rich in resources: silver, lead, zinc, copper, gold, natural gas, oil, and coal. The region is also popular for its role in the salmon economy (though overfishing and river-damming is threatening the persistence salmon population). Unlike other peripheral regions, British Colombia has the potential to rise to the top as a new core. Manufacturing is booming around Vancouver. The capital is also the most important trade port in the nation. BC also boasts a large service economy. The author does note that BC is hindered in becoming a new core by its “dependence on a single market”.
The largest region in Canada is the vast North. The North is the least populated of the regions, but is home to a myriad of native peoples. It is notorious for its long cold winters, short cool summers, and low precipitation levels. Despite the low levels of rain, the area supports large areas of coniferous forests. Much of the land’s foundation is settled atop thick layers of permafrost that are being threatened by the warming of the globe. Traditionally, the region’s economy was based on native traditions and whaling. Nowadays, the native ways are in a contest with a new force: Industrial Capitalism.
The core-periphery model would appear to apply to the Canadian economy. The Core region (Great Lakes – St Lawrence Region) with its great manufacturing base is fed by the resource rich peripheral regions that funnel their resources (and wealth) to them. This process has been amplified with the application of a trans-continental railroad system, but is threatened by the rise of the British Colombia region. Whether the system can work with two cores is yet to be seen, but if Vancouver manages to play her cards right we may just get an interesting show.
Comments
Post a Comment
Comment below.