Abstract

The Cape Breton Development Corporation (DEVCO) was an ambitious attempt by the Canadian federal government to manage the deindustrialization of coal mining on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Created in 1967 by nationalizing the unprofitable collieries, DEVCO’s original mission was to incrementally close them, while fostering an alternative economic base in the area. The mines operated until 2001 when they finally closed. DEVCO has primarily been studied as an example of federal regional development policy, as it experimented with many projects to stimulate economic growth. However, DEVCO’s Coal Division has remained almost entirely unstudied, despite much more money, and outliving the regional development programs. Not only that, managed wind-down was quickly abandoned, and from 1973 the Coal Division expanded, a process that continued into the 1980s. In this thesis I argue that the Coal Division’s history significantly modifies our understanding of DEVCO, as regional development was only one factor in the crown corporation’s trajectory. Those other factors mostly related to coal, which the Canadian state was deeply entangled with through energy policy, labour relations, and political patronage. Furthermore, as a state-owned enterprise, DEVCO had key differences from private sector deindustrialization, as this formally politicized pit closure and made governments vulnerable to pressure from those most impacted. DEVCO was a unique response to deindustrialization, which has some enduring implications for fossil fuel infrastructures today.