Getting the lead out: State, capital and society and the development of New Brunswick's base metal industry, 1952-1972

Through a multi-layered examination of the provincial and federal states, foreign and local capital, local communities, and the Cold War political economy, this dissertation traces the development of New Brunswick's base metal industry during the 1952-72 period. The discovery of large base metal deposits on the province's North Shore in the midst of the Cold War drew American multinationals to New Brunswick and raised expectations of prosperity among local residents who lived in the poorest region of one of the poorest provinces in Canada. Over the next twenty years the promise of this new industry informed the regional economic development strategies of the provincial and federal governments. The thesis charts and explains the evolution of the province's mineral development strategy from passive intervention and promotion under the Flemming Conservative government in the 1950s to the more managerial approach of the Robichaud Liberals in the 1960s.;The study shows how the province mediated between the often competing interests of mining capital and local residents. These conflicts resulted from local discontent with the pace of mining development and the distribution of economic benefits. Drawing on an unhappy local history of corporate exploitation of Crown forests, many northern New Brunswickers demanded that the state ensure the accountability of corporations wishing to develop "the people's resources". Constrained by ideology, the lack of a history of state intervention and a dependent mindset, the Flemming administration refused to take action against American mining capital. More committed to state economic management and under the leadership of the Acadian populist, Robichaud, the Liberal administration took a more activist approach during the 1960s. Both American and local capitalists were forced out of the provincial mining industry when their involvement was judged by the state as hazardous to the industry's overall health. There were, however, limits to this activism. The Liberal government continued the promotional and bonusing practices of its predecessors, although the process became more formalised and bureaucratised. While there were moments of seeming state autonomy during the 1960s, provincial development strategies always operated under the assumption that resource exploitation would be carried out by private capital only.