Course:EOSC311/2020/The Evolution of Socioeconomic Structures in the Resource Communities of British Columbia

Resource extraction has always played a large role in British Columbia's economy, but often the communities that are built around these industries are perceived as being doomed to fail. This is due to the lack of community planning and economic diversification within these single-resource towns. Communities go through a period booming industry when the production of staple resources first occurs, with periods of large in-migrations of young workers. This is followed by the inevitable decline in resource industry production that leads to a massive out migration of young workers, leaving communities full of ageing seniors with little planned services for them. After their decline, single-resource communities can either diversify their economy or succumb to the status of ghost town. There are many major challenges that come with diversifying economic drivers in a town that is losing population and income, however some towns have become success stories showing that it is possible to escape the ghost town fate that lurks over all resource communities. This article discusses the history of post-war resource towns in British Columbia, the factors leading to their decline, and the success former single-resource towns that were able to come back from the destruction of their main industry.

Statement of Connection

The formation of communities and towns around single resource industries has become indicative of many towns in the hinterlands of British Columbia. The remote location of resources that are economically viable for extraction and the processes behind the community development around the industry of resource extraction play a huge role in the success or failure of a town after the inevitable end of resource extraction operations. As a human geographer I am interested in how people interact with their environment, and how certain social structures within communities in these environments came to be. The geology of an area will determine the possibility of a resource extraction operation, however it is up to the humans involved to make sure that the community will continue to flourish after the resource they rely on is no longer economically viable. The stage of the life cycle that a resource extraction operation is in is closely tied to the resulting demographics of the community that has formed around the industry, and in this article I will discuss the complexities of the social and economic structures of communities in relation to this evolution.

The Boom: The Creation of Post-War Industry Towns

The hinterland of British Columbia was relatively underdeveloped until after World War II when the high demand for staple resources led to the rapid economic growth and expansion of infrastructure for resource extraction that lasted until the 1980s. The postwar government placed a particularly high priority on opening up Northern British Columbia with the purpose of industrial development for staple resources such as forestry, mining, hydroelectricity, oil, and gas. These resources brought economic stability to remote areas during this time, and many communities that were based around the extraction of a single resource began popping up in North and Central British Columbia.

Pulp mill in Mackenzie, British Columbia.

Beginning a resource extraction project requires major capital investment, so often these communities would be based around a project owned by foreign investors. This led to the stability of these single-resource communities balancing heavily on the demands of the foreign market, and a lack of economic diversification within the local community. However, the promise of economic prosperity with little to no required experience attracted large amounts of young workers with their families in tow. Workers were able to earn high wages and still be able to come home and see their families every night, unlike camp work. Until the early 1980s, this influx of young workers and a trend of high fertility rates led to an overwhelmingly younger population demographic.

Corporations played a major role in the development of these communities, and their impact can be seen deeply integrated into the economic and social structures of the resulting towns. Often, these corporations led the community before a local municipal government could be established, and would often make planning decisions without the input from experienced urban planners. The development of worker camps without a clear goal of the layout of the future community landscape leads to fractured communities burdened by urban sprawl and no central core. Once these structures such as roads and housing are put in place it is extremely hard to modify, and because to the rapid expansion with little focus on planning principles, resource towns often lacked a coherent community identity. The provincial government realized the destruction these disorganized town layouts would bring to themselves, and in 1965 legislation that would come to be known as the “Instant Town Act” was introduced in order for communities to quickly adopt municipal status along with proper planning councils in place of corporations leading the community development. However, under the act, these municipalities could not interfere with the future industrial activities of the corporation that the community was built around. Mackenzie, Port Hardy, and Tumbler Ridge are all examples of “Instant Towns” that arose from this act.

Quintette Coal Mine in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.

Social and cultural activities were also majorly influenced by the practices of the companies that employed the majority of the residents within these single-resource industry towns. Deals were struck with resource firms to fund the creation of towns and the addition of new amenities to already standing communities. This resulted in exclusionary practices in the allocation of community resources and cultural activities, which catered towards workers in the resource industry and often left out anything that was tailored specifically to Aboriginal people or women. Often, the Aboriginal peoples in which these industry towns appeared were not consulted about the resource extraction that was to take place on their land and little consideration was put into the possible impacts on the environment these industries would have. Women in the time these communities were formed were expected to be housewives, but today they are still limited in labour-force participation due to the lack of social services such as daycare and proper public transportation.

The Decline: Shrinking Workforces and Aging Communities

Rapidly extracting resources has led to the fall of communities sometimes as quickly within one generation. Dependency on one resource as the main economic driver and having one company employ the majority of the town resulted in extremely fragile economies that were not resilient to changes in the global market or changes in the labour force. Communities based around mining industries especially were found to be more dependent on the resource extraction and less economically diverse than resources like forestry and hydropower, as these communities experienced more frequent and rapid shutdowns of key employers. In the 1980s, advancements in technology allowed for resource extraction industries such as forestry and mining to operate at an increased efficiency with fewer workers. These advancements, coupled with a recession, led to younger, unskilled workers being laid off in favour of older, more experienced workers. The 1980s recession was a widespread turning point for resource communities in British Columbia; as more countries entered the global staple resource market, resource towns of British Columbia were put under immense pressure.. Having external owners that separate the community from making autonomous investment and production decisions resulted in rapid market-based shutdowns of industry operations with little consideration for the socioeconomic impacts on the town. Because the economies were not diversified, these shutdowns would bring the entire community function to a halt as the entire flow of these local economies were dependent on the spending power of the resource extraction workers. The layoffs that resulted from the economic downturn in the 1980s also caused many resource communities to experience a mass out-migration of young workers and their families.

A feller buncher can cut and transport multiple trees at a time.

When the economic driver of a town is taken away, amenities and resources such as local businesses, schools, hospitals, and banks all begin to shut down in response, as it not economically viable to run a business in an area that is rapidly losing population. In order to keep community function running, resource communities needed to retain their tax base, however, this is extremely difficult when there are no jobs. The youth exodus away from resource communities that began in the 1980s, with even older workers who retained their jobs during the layoffs now seeing their adult children migrate away to metropolitan areas. This major out-migration of young working-age people is causing a disproportionate number of seniors in resource towns in which older residents are choosing to age-in-place. Resource communities are rapidly ageing and they are not properly equipped to handle the heightened need for amenities that are necessary to support a large senior population. Additionally, within the past two decades, government-provided services in British Columbia have been downsizing in remote areas, including the post offices and other local ministry provisions. This puts even more pressure on the economies of resource towns that have ageing populations.

Many of the resource towns in British Columbia were built rapidly, with little planning for the future of the community after the eventual decline of resource availability and extraction viability. Many towns were in no position to stand on their own without the aid of the corporation they were built around and their amenities were too underdeveloped to become an urban centre. This lack of planning for the inevitable industry closure is what led to the downfall of many resource towns. Poor community planning led to a lack of town identity and connection within residents, as can be displayed by the exodus that many resource towns experience. Land in these towns is often locked up in speculative ownership from the original boom, making it difficult to have local start-ups with money that stays within the community. Additional challenges revitalizing downtown cores are brought on by lack of planning as some places have multiple, underdeveloped cores, while others require expensive environmental clean-up of industrial operations before they can begin to develop their cores.

The Bust: Ghost Town or Economic Revival?

The Britannia Mines museum, in Britannia Beach, British Columbia.

Transitioning for single resource communities in the current context requires not only the re-evaluation of economic drivers but also a deeper understanding of environmental impacts and the consent of Aboriginal groups –both of which were largely ignored during the first development of resource-based communities. For many towns after the downturn in the resource market brings them to the point of no return there are two options: diversify their economic drivers or wind down to eventual ghost town status. The ghost town result has been seen many times for resource-based communities in British Columbia, Britannia Beach is a major example of this. The residents of Britannia Beach, which was once one of the largest mining towns in British Columbia, anticipated the inevitable shutdown that would spell the unstoppable end to the community they lived in and had already started planning for a museum to be made before the site even closed down for good in 1974. While this could not sustain the community that once lived there, the mine is now a tourist destination that helps drive the economy for the neighbouring communities.

File:Murals in Chemainus.jpg

One of the many murals in Chemainus, British Columbia.

Tourism is a major industry in British Columbia, as its mountainous regions are desired destinations for tourists of all kinds. Focusing on tourism is an economic diversification strategy that can be adopted by some former resource communities in order to avoid falling into obscurity. For example, Revelstoke, located in the Kootenays, experienced a major downturn in its economy after dam construction was completed in time for the recession in the 1980s. The town launched initiatives to focus on recreation and eco-tourism, which when coupled by its location on a major highway and dynamic seasonal activities, was a major success. Revelstoke is now well-known globally for its skiing and mountain biking experiences. Another example is Chemainus, a former logging town that committed to an enhancement project and painted multiple large-scale murals on buildings in the downtown core. Core modernization puts a focus on local businesses and enhances the identity and pride of its residents. In the case of Chemainus, the revitalization project allowed the town to become a gathering place for artists and tourists. A focus on tourism cannot be pursued by all struggling resource towns, however, as remote locations in northern and central British Columbia are not easily accessed by tourists, and are relatively unknown by those not living in British Columbia.

Revelstoke Mountain Ski Hill in Revelstoke, British Columbia.

As senior populations continue to increase, the retirement industry can also be a viable option for economic diversification. Seniors who migrate into towns stimulate the economy by spending locally with money saved for retirement. Seniors are also more likely to volunteer within their communities than the younger generation, which is beneficial for both the reduction of senior isolation and the development of the community. Unfortunately, due to the poor urban planning upon the creation of resource communities, many do not have the required senior housing and services required to become a viable retirement community.

New resource projects that are developed to be sustainable and are done with the consultation of the Aboriginal peoples can give an increase in population that is necessary for planners to implement resiliency strategies with a substantial tax base. For example, the Mt. Milligan mining project was able to assist in staving off economic hardship from the declining forestry industry in Mackenzie and Prince George. However, these new resource projects can have complex impacts, as the rising popularity of fly-in fly-out work creates cost-benefit implications that are hard to assess.

Map of British Columbia. Tumbler Ridge is circled in red.

One town located in the north of British Columbia was very successful in transitioning from a single-based resource town to an economically diverse community by using all of the aforementioned examples of tourism, retirees, and new industry initiatives. Tumbler Ridge was an Instant Town based around the coal mining industry, and it was able to survive economic destruction due to the forethought of its urban planners anticipating the inevitable industry closure. From the beginning of the town, local administration was kept separate from mining management and all resource owners were required to pay municipal taxes -which was uncommon for resource towns in British Columbia at the time. The administration also prevented the over-arching ownership of all the land by one corporation and placed a priority on the development of modern services and infrastructure. Then, when the economy turned and young people out of work started leaving en masse, the municipality bought their houses and sold them at extremely low prices, alongside the picture of Tumbler Ridge as a wilderness retreat with well-kept infrastructure and amenities. This successfully brought in both people looking to retire and people looking for a vacation home, which brought in seasonal buying power. Finally, Tumbler Ridge also gained a community forest lease from British Columbia’s Crown Lands, and was able to diversify the economy further by implementing sustainable forestry practices that retained jobs for younger workers. Tumbler Ridge is an example of the resilience of a single-resource town that was able to diversify its economy.

Conclusion / Your Evaluation of the Connections

The geological landscape of British Columbia has massively impacted the development and survival of communities, and their resulting social structures. It is clear that without proper planning, many communities based on the industry of a single resource cannot survive once the resource is no longer economically viable. The towns that do survive, however are great success stories of a communities resilience. Geological and staple resources are the key to the existence of many of British Columbia's towns, even our large metropolitan centres have a history connecting them to the resource industry. It is important to recognize the impact of the geology of British Columbia on our resulting community structures,and the importance of these small industry towns on our economy and our livelihood. Those of us who live in the city may think we are separate from these small towns that appear and fade as time goes on, but we also use products made from staple resources and electricity generated at hydroelectricity plants every day. British Columbia's diverse landscape shows the connection between the resource landscape and human geography, as allows for unique opportunities for all of it's communities but is up to the humans residing within them to plan and adapt in order to utilize these opportunities successfully.

References

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Halseth, G. (2017). Transformation of resource towns and peripheries: Political economy perspectives. Routledge.

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Hayter, R., & Nieweler, S. (2018). The local planning-economic development nexus in transitioning resource-industry towns: Reflections (mainly) from British Columbia doi:https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2018.03.006

Jackson, T., & Illsley, B. (2006). Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia: The mining town that refused to die. Journal of Transatlantic Studies (Edinburgh University Press), 4(2), 163–186. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1080/14794010708656846

Markey, S., Halseth, G., & Manson, D. (2012). Investing in place : Economic renewal in northern British Columbia. UBC Press.

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Nepa, S. K., & Jamal, T. B. (2011). Resort-induced changes in small mountain communities in British Columbia, Canada. Mountain Research and Development, 31(2), 89-101. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/mounresedeve.31.2.89

Ryser, L. M., & Halseth, G. (2013). So you're thinking about a retirement industry? Economic and community development lessons from resource towns in northern British Columbia. Community Development, 44(1), 83-96. doi:10.1080/15575330.2012.680476

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