Rabbits? Perhaps a rabbit should replace the maple leaf on the Canadian flag, for we boast the highest birth-rate among the Western in- dustrialized nations—2.8 percent for a decade following the Sec- | ond World War, and about 2.5 today. This compares with 2.4 per- cent in the United States and 1.6 in England and Wales. By BERT WHYTE ECONOMICS MADE EASY UR long postwar baby boom means that in the next 10 years apartment builders are going to reap a rich harvest, for hundreds of thousands of young married couples will be clamoring for living quarters. - Canada is one of those coun- tries which do not have to wor- ry about population explosions; industrialized. and with ample space, there is no economic rea- son why better living standards should not accompany an _ in- crease. in population. Economics and politics are joined like Siamese twins, and to political leadership based on the premise that Canadians must be masters in their own house. As the authors of a fascinat- ing book, Economic Geography of Canada, put it: “From the beginning, Canada has had an economy based largely on exploiting and pro- cessing simple raw materials. One of the goals of Canadians has been to diversify this econ- omy, to transform more raw materials and natural resources at home, and thereby to increase secondary and tertiary’ econo- mic activities. Another objec- tive has been to live side by side with a giant neighbor without ~ abandoning economic indepen- dence. In the present period these two objectives have to be pursued in the midst of a new technological revolution which is rewriting economic relation- ships. “To diversify its production and trade, Canada must increase the range of its products and the number of its customers... “Rapid economic growth and diversification require large in- puts of capital. The question be- comes one of how much more financing can be organized in- ternally, and how much of the remainder can be obtained from foreign sources without sacri- ficing control over major econo- mic decisions... “These economic issues are being faced and adjustments made while major social and po- litical problems are confronting the nation. A re-examination of the century-old constitution is necessary ... A new partner- ship of the people, and particu- larly of the two major ethnic groups, the English and the French, needs to. be formu- lated.” While this last paragraph skates around the problem of two nations within one state by simply referring to “ethnic groups,” the general approach to Canada’s economic and poli- tical future is one that impres- ses this reviewer. The three authors of Econo- mic Geography of Canada are Pierre Camu (a geographer and vice-president of the St. Law- rence Seaway Authority), Ernest Pools Weeks (an economist and executive director of the Atlan- tic Development Board), and Zenon William Sametz (statis- tician and economist and direc- tor of economic and social re- search for the Department of Citizenship and Immigration). The book is divided into three parts. Part One covers the na- tural and historical setting, the progressive integration of man with the environment. Part Two deals with general economic geography: the people, instru- mental capital and productivity, energy, primary resources in- dustries, Secondary industries, tertiary activities and transpor- tation. Part Three outlines a system for Canadian regional analysis, the development of a 68-region system. If this appears a trifle dull to the layman reader, let me as- sure you that it isn’t. And I’m as layman and non-expert as they come. Before white men set foot on this continent the 200,000 In- dians in what is now Canada lived in an economy of scarcity. Their technology was that of the Stone Age; the numerous tribes had different languages, cul- tures and physical traits. With the exception of the West Coast (where fishing pro- vided a stable food base) the Eskimoes in the far north and the Indians across the country lived a nomadic life, due to the migratory nature of the game. Until the horse came up from Mexico around 1700, the only domesticated animal was the dog (brought from Asia). “There was, generally, ruth- lessness with respect to the aged, the infirm, and infants, in- dicating that uncertainty of the food supply put a ceiling on population,” write the authors of the Economic Geography. “Even before contact (with whites) hunting territories and fishing places were allotted and poaching was a serious offense. As soon as guns were available, many groups used them to en- large their territories.” - Things were better on the West Coast: “The Pacific Coast sedentary group lived in villages, on sal- mon streams, or on bays where sea mammals could be hunted. The easy availability of food, especially salmon (and clam beds in an emergency), and wood (cedar) for housing, en- abled semi-permanent commu- nities to be established. These coastal tribes had an economy of relative plenty by primitive standards, and their cultures be- came more highly developed than those of any other Can- adian aboriginal group. They in- cluded the Coast Salish (15,000) Bella Coola (3,000), Nootka (6,000), Kwakiutl (7,200), Tsim- shian (6,000), Haida (8,400) and Tlinkit (about 500) in Canada.” The white man brought di- sease, firearms, fire-water, wars, extermination of game, and forced migrations. By 1900 the Indian population had shrunk to 106,000. In this century a re- markable recovery has _ taken p.ace, and the 1961 census figures show an Indian popula- tion of 208,300 and 11,800 Es- kimoes. “There is no basis for con- tinuing the former pessimistic talk about the native peoples vanishing; on the contrary, their population growth has become vigorous again,” say the au- thors. “Although this ethnic group constitutes only slightly over one percent of the Can- _adian people, it is the fastest- growing one in, the country on the basis of net natural in- crease.” Man as producer and consu- mer — and also the end or pur- pose of all economic activities — is dealt with in Part Two of the Economic Geography. Text and numerous charts give a picture of Canada’s population growth and economic expan- sion. The general increase of ur- banization is noted: today only 11 percent of the population are actual farm dwellers. There has been a revolution- ary upgrading in the labor force: almost 10 percent of workers are employed in profes- sional work; an increasing pro- portion are performing white collar jobs; this has further opened the labor market to fe- male participation; greater skills demand higher schooling; new jobs must be. created at an ac- celerating rate to keep up with population growth. The sources of. energy — coal, petrolium, natural gas, and elec- tric power — are examined in detail. Nuclear power and tidal energy are also discussed. “People are still the prime *c- source; but people without ade- quate supplies of energy could not have achieved the pheno- menal upgrowth that has taken place in Canada since the Sec- ond World War... “Canada’s share in-world pro- duction and consumption (of energy) is very small; it repre- sents something like 1.9 percent pag September 3, 1965—PACIFIC TRIBUNE iv and 2.4 percent respec | However, if we compél consumption per capita Canadian consumption sé times that of the avere”, the world and is surpas>*, 5 by the United States rain, a small oil-rich state Persian Gulf.” on Part Three of the er Geography divides Call@ 68 regions representil? (8 best possible combinal! structural, functional, i, tion and marketing fact? te Many pages are deve re analytical description of gions, too complex t0 aad into the limits of a TeV presented in a simple 00 understood form in the in As the authors say the. introduction, a study eer gions and the relations” tween them is importa tain depth of understay both uniqueness a0 problems, = va “For example, not only find means % cf its present seasonal 4 tural unemployment, ©, gear up to providing _ 4.) quate supply ‘of neW “iil the rapidly expandiné ih force confronting it 3. Rely Sixties and early Seven jolly sonable solutions muS* jaye for the problems 9 ment of certain regio? fav" country that are less than others. A new Yr tion policy may be rea will make due allow: both the geographi the country and the changes in its economy» are major issues whi tet be obvious from shorh™ — Yrom national analyse oss “This. is perhaps thé io a of ‘economic planning pet | ada — to obtain 2 probe derstanding of pasiC 7 and then to procee and unitedly to theif () y ECONOMIC GEOGRAT CANADA: by Pie'"@ "co Weeks; and Z. a {2 Macmillan of Canoe’