In the Public Interest The Oil and Gas Industry of Saskatchewan, 1905-1950
Date
1988
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
ORCID
Type
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
In the fall of 1930, in an action anticipated as
"nothing less than the consummation of Confederation itself",
the natural resources of Saskatchewan and Alberta. were
transferred from federal to provincial jurisdiction. Professor·
Chester Martin noted that changes in the use and management of
those resources were inevitable. "Federal purposes are not
provincial purposes neither are federal ways provincial ways
for their achievement."
The people of Saskatchewan, having agitated for the
return of resources for decades, did indeed perceive specific
provincial objectives in their exploitation. These included the
enhancement of the wealth, economic self-reliance and power of
the province, and their utilization in the creation of a new
prairie society, an "alternate economic and political order."
Resources such as agricultural land land the forests were well
known, their potential tested; others, such as oil and gas,
remained speculative but nonetheless appealing. For decades
they held an alluring but elusive promise of prosperity and
economic transformation.
The hopes and objectives of Saskatchewan with regard
to natural resources were often represented in the statements
of public men and women. The question of oil and gas
development was continually being addressed in this period. The
provincial government was bound, however, by practical
reservations, ideological constraints, and in the case of oil,
by the priorities and needs of a powerful industry. Despite
the real changes in the life of Saskatchewan in the decades
before and after the transfer - a period of growth followed by
prolonged depression and drought, the dislocations of war, the
opportunities of post-war prosperity, and the shifts in
political power
- public policy with regard to resources
maintained a remarkable consistency. This consistency was
paralleled in the discontents and demands of an influential
sector of the agrarian community. Within the context of this
conflict of attitudes, dreams and ambitions, the oil industry
of Saskatchewan emerged.
Faced with an array of physical and structural
economic difficulties, it never entirely fulfilled the hopes of
its promoters. Nor did it succeed in securing the province the
independence and industrial strength it coveted. Only after
many years of effort and investment did it become a major
resource component of the provincial economy.
The purpose of this study is to trace the evolution
of the oil and gas industry from its origins through the first
two decades of provincial control of natural resources. It
will involve examining the ambitions attached to it, the nature
of the changes that over took it, and the forces that ultimately
determined those "provincial ways" for its development .
Description
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Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
History
Program
History