Theses

• ACHESON, Thomas William, “Denominationalism in a Loyalist County: A Social History of Charlotte, 1783-1940” (M.A. thesis, Department of History, University of New Brunswick, 1964), 325 p.

  A study of the social development of Charlotte County, from the 1780s to the 1890s. A short “Epilogue” (pp. 288-306) deals briefly with the 1900-1940 period. At the turn of the century, there were reasons for optimism about the county's future: there were successful industries in the St. Stephen area, the lumber industry underwent reorganization the Algonquin Hotel at St. Andrews was developing the local tourist industry, and the Connors Brothers plant at Black's Harbour was moving from lobster packing to processed herring. The modern period turned out, however, to be a time of stability and setbacks compared to the earlier eras in the county's history. Employment at the major factories -- the Ganong candy factory at St. Stephen, the Milltown cotton mill, ad the Connors Brothers fish plant -- fluctuated. To maintain employment levels, the Ganong factory switched from a six to a five-day week in 1934. There are brief references to labour disputes at the cotton mill in Milltown and at a fertilizer mill in St. Stephen.

• ALLABY, Gerald H., “New Brunswick Prophets of Radicalism: 1890-1914” (M.A. thesis, Department of History, University of New Brunswick, 1972), 136 p.

  An important study of three New Brunswick social reformers: Martin Butler, H.H. Stuart and W.F. Hatheway. A separate chapter is devoted to each of these influential spokesmen for social reform in New Brunswick in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into rural poverty in Kings County in 1858, of Loyalist stock, Martin Butler (1858-1915) had left school by the age of 10 to go to work; at the age of 18, on a gruesome Christmas Eve, he lost his right arm in a factory accident in the Maine woods. He then followed a career as a peddlar and writer of occasional journalism and poetry, tramping through southeast Maine and Charlotte, York and Sunbury counties. In 1890 he settled at Fredericton where he published Butler's Journal until 1915. His pages advanced republican and egalitarian, and at times socialist and anti-imperialist, principles. In 1902 Butler was a founder of the Fredericton Socialist League, which later became part of the Socialist Party of Canada. Henry Harvey Stuart (1873-1952) was born in the back country of Sunbury County. He apprenticed as a printer and studied at the Normal School in Fredericton; much of his working life was spent as a journalist and as a teacher. He was also a lay preacher in the Methodist Church and a strong temperance advocate. Like Butler, he was a founder of the Fredericton Socialist League and later active in the Socialist Party of Canada. He served as a town councillor in Newcastle, where he was also editor of the Union Advocate. In later years he was a supporter of independent labour politics and a founding member of the New Brunswick section of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), of which he was honorary president on his death in 1952. In Albert County in 1902 he organized a teachers' union, which expanded into a provincial organization in 1903 and was later established as the New Brunswick Teachers Associaton in 1918. Warren Frank Hatheway (1850-1923) was a successful Saint John wholesale grocer, with a reputation as a benevolent employer and an interest in literary and cultural affairs. Alarmed by the growth of monopolies and by the evidence of social inequality, Hatheway adopted a variety of social reform views. He supported women's suffrage and old age pensions, minimum wages for civic employees and public ownership of utilties. In 1901 he was a founder of the Fabian League in Saint John, which, among other issues, took up the causes of workmen's compensation and factory conditions. In 1903 he ran for the provincial legislature, with the support of the Saint John Trades and Labour Council and the longshoremen's union. In 1908 he was elected as a Conservative member and was responsible for improvements in workmen's compensation and factory laws, but left politics in 1912. Before his death he left some 73 acres of land to the workingmen of Saint John, to be used as a Labor Park. In all, the author writes, this study provides a “long and thorough look at these three men and their ideas” and corrects “a deficiency in the history of Canadian radicalism which, out of ignorance or lack of interest, has largely omitted reference to radicalism in this province” .

• ANDREWS, Alick Robert, “Social Crisis and Labour Mobility: A Study of Economic and Social Change in a New Brunswick Railway Community” (M.A. thesis, Dept. of Sociology, University of New Brunswick, 1967), 132 p.

  Andrews examines the effects of technological change -- the replacement of steam engines with diesel engines -- on McAdam, New Brunswick. This community grew for almost no other reason than to service the Canadian Pacific Railway and did so for more than half a century. When the dieselization and centralization program of the CPR took place in the 1950s, McAdam faced a severe disruption in its social and economic life. For years McAdam was regulated by the steam whistle that blasted nine times a day from 7: 00 a.m. to 5: 00 p.m. The lives of those in the town were shaped by the railway. It provided jobs for the workforce and a probable job for the young when they left school. The job they obtained often determined where they would live in town. Much of the recreation revolved around the McAdam C.P.R. Amateur Athletic Association. The disapearance of the economic security that the C.P.R. provided had an initially devastating effect on the community. Many workers took early retirement, feeling that they were too old to retrain for other jobs. Younger workers who owned homes felt they couldn't afford to leave the equity in their houses and settled for finding odd jobs in and about the community. For those still at school, post-secondary education at university or college became more important.

• ASHBEE, David James, “Salmon Fishing in Northern New Brunswick, Revington: A Case Study” (M.A. thesis, Dept. of Anthropology, University of New Brunswick, 1981), 151 p.

  A study of a small community on the Restigouche River whose livelihood revolves around the success of the sport fishing industry. The largest single source of income for the community is derived from unemployment insurance benefits. There is, therefore, a great reliance on sport fishing to provide jobs during the summer, in order to qualify for these payments. The 23 salmon clubs on the Restigouche cater mostly to American “sportsmen” and provide jobs to more than 200 residents who work as guides, bowmen, wardens, or kitchen staff. Although locals are hired as wardens to protect the rights leased by the clubs, a certain amount of poaching takes place. Most poaching is considered acceptable if done by locals. The close-knit nature of the community restricts all but federal wardens from prosecuting minor poaching offences. In addition, Ashbee discusses the various land based occupations of the river workers, including lumbering, fiddlehead picking and subsistence farming. In the community studied, not one woman was involved in more than one different job outside of the home, compared to the men who had at least three.

• BAILEY, Alan Westlake, “Living Accommodation for Teachers of Grades Seven to Twelve and Its Effects on Teacher Supply and Teacher Retention in the Province of New Brunswick” (M.Ed. Report, University of New Brunswick, 1961), 55 p.

  This thesis examines the way in which problems in housing accommodation affected the ability of secondary schools in New Brunswick to attract and retain teaching staff. The study was conducted in response to a shortage of teachers in the province and high turnover rates in the profession. The thesis is based upon the results of two sets of questionnaires. The first questionnaire was mailed to all secondary school teachers in the province and obtained information on the type of accommodation used by teachers, their opinions as to the cost of accommodation, quality of housing and their degree of satisfaction with their housing. This questionnaire also surveyed the relation of places of birth, marriage, and employment among married female teachers. The results of this survey are provided for each school district. A second questionnaire to all school boards in the province gathered information on the accommodation available to teachers in their districts. This survey found, for example, that 21.8 per cent of all teachers responding owned their own homes while 25.4 per cent of teachers boarded. The thesis also concluded that 54 per cent of married female teachers were born in the district in which they were teaching and argues that the shortages in accommodation compelled school districts to employ married female teachers.

• BURDEN, Patrick H., “The New Brunswick Farmer-Labour Union, 1937-1941” (M.A. thesis, Universityof New Brunswick, 1983), 169 p.

  An important study which rediscovered a neglected New Brunswick workers' organization of the 1930s. Established at the Labour Hall in Nelson in January 1937, at its peak the NBFLU included 20 locals, from Campbellton in the north to Alma in the south and Grand Falls in the west. Most of the locals were clustered together on the Miramichi, from Upper Nelson to Loggieville. Some two or three thousand workers were involved, from various industries and occupations but particularly from the sawmills and the docks of the Miramichi. Following the logic which existed in many parts of the provincial economy, the NBFLU cut across industrial and occupational lines, embracing full-time and part-time workers, sawmill workers and woodcutters, longshoremen and truckdrivers, farmers and labourers. Central to this organization was the ideal of the independent workingman, who considered himself not an employee but an independent producer, and was likely to have two or more occupations in the course of a single year. The president, Gregory McEachreon, was a small storekeeper and a supporter of credit unions; the provincial secretary, Frank Dolan, was also president of the New Brunswick Farmers’ and Dairymen’s Association. There was a natural interest not only in collective bargaining but in a whole range of social reforms, including cooperative strategies for economic development. In politics the NBFLU hoped to inspire “government of the people and for the people, rather than government of the Privileged Few for the Privileged Few”. In the summer of 1937 the NBFLU was involved in a major general strike against sawmill owners along a 40-mile stretch of the Miramichi River. The strike resulted in improved wages and hours for the workers and contributed to the reform of provincial labour law. Other disputes took place at Campbellton the same year, and on the Miramichi in 1940. The union disappeared from the scene, however, during the early years of the Second World War, just as labour relations were beginning to undergo important reforms. This study traces the rise and fall of a little-known organization whose history shows the complexities of the New Brunswick class structure and the latent strengths of social movements in the Maritime.

• BURGOYNE, Roseville Luther Paul, “New Denmark in Canada” (M.A. thesis, Department of Sociology-Anthropology, University of New Brunswick, 1973), 122 p.

  A community study of Canada's largest Danish settlement, New Denmark, on the upper Saint John River Valley, which considers assimilation through several generations of immigrant residents. Through church records, the author located for this study all Danish families containing three generations in the community and then interviewed some 80 individuals from 12 families. Immigrants to New Denmark arriving from 1872 to 1928, were brought to New Brunswick under a settlement agreement among the provincial government, federal government and a Danish agent, Messeurs Saren S. Heller. The New Brunswick government granted settlers 100 acres and promised work for them on railways and roads. Few settlers obtained such winter work, however, and many men financed their struggling farms through winter employment at a nearby Maine tannery. (pp. 21-34). First generation farmers in New Denmark produced cheese and dairy products but the community came to depend upon potato production. As Burgoyne explains in Chapter 3 “Life in New Denmark”, the community by 1970 was divided into traditional farmers and younger “rational businessmen” farmers who had taken out credit to purchase machinary and larger land holdings. These changes in farming had led to “transformations in traditional patterns of work and social structure” (p. 39). Modern farmers still continued in the tradition of participation in the New Denmark Growers' Association, a small co-operative farmer' union. (p. 62). In looking at migration of sons and daughters from New Denmark, (pp. 64-72), Burgoyne found that the greatest number of those who left the community came from families who pursued “rational” farming. Table F (p. 70), shows the locations to which the children of first generation parents migrated. Chapter 4 “Danes or Canadians”, explores family roles, languages, religious and home traditions in the community. In contrast to many othr studies of immigrant communities, Burgoyne found that in New Denmark there was not a progressive generation by generation assimilation pattern (p. 105).

• BUTLER, Peter Marshall, “Migrants and Settlers: The Influence of Geographical Mobility on the Retention of Extended Kinship Ties” (M.A. thesis, Department of Sociology-Anthropology, University of New Brunswick, 1967), 111 p.

  A study which compares the nature and extent of kinship ties maintained by two kinds of workers in the Fredericton area: “Migrants” and “Settlers”. The “migrants” were construction workers employed on the Mactaquac power project and lived with their families temporarily in a trailer park on the outskirts of Fredericton. The “settlers” were residents of Nashwaaksis and commuted to white collar employment in Fredericton. The study was based on some 80 oral interviews with married couples in both of these communities. In determining the nature of their relationship with kin, Butler found that 18 per cent of migrants and 25 per cent of settlers maintained contact with four generations of relations. (p. 37) From these kin relationships they received not only emotional aid and advice, but also help in the form of babysitting, home nursing and care for the aged, finacial assistance and help in finding employment. (pp. 51-57) Mothers and daughters “exchanged services” most regularly, especially during the birth of a child or in a serious family illness. (p. 52) Since the time of their marriages, 61 per cent of migrants and 48 per cent of settlers had exchanged financial aid with their kin. (p. 57) In considering the “Social and Psychological Dimensions of Family and Neighbourhood Relations” (Chapter 5), Butler found that construction workers with irregular and seasonal employment needed extended kinship ties for economic security between jobs. While salaried white collar workers relied less on extended family ties for assistance than hourly wage workers, they too considered their kin as a potential source of economic assistance. (pp. 65-67) This study concludes that “Factors other than geographical mobility must be considered in order to conclude that extended family ties are losing their force in contemporary society”. (p. 88) A sketch of the changing employment pattern in Fredericton is provided in Chapter 3 noting the increased prominence of work in educational institutions, government bureaucracy and from the military base in Gagetown.

• CLARKE, Mary, “The Saint John Women's Enfranchisement Association, 1894-1919” (M.A. thesis, University of New Brunswick, 1979), 168 p.

  The Saint John Women's Enfranchisement Association (WEA) was one of many New Brunswick groups which campaigned vigorously from the mid-1880s to 1919 for the right of women to vote. But unlike many other woman's suffrage organizations shaped by maternal feminism and the concerns of middle class women, the Saint John WEA held a wider commitment to social reform and was attentive to the specific needs of working class women. While votes for women was the WEA's first priority, its members also sought protective factory legislation for women and children, the hiring of female factory inspectors and equal wages for equal work. Mary Clarke argues that the goals of the WEA reflected the fact that nearly half of its members were single women who worked for a living. The WEA was also significantly influenced by the socialist principles held by two of its members, Ella Hatheway and her husband, W.F. Hatheway. Indeed for a brief period, the WEA's interest in British Fabianism overtook its suffrage focus. This thesis provides a detailed analysis of the occupations of the individual members of the WEA and their male reatives, an account of the varied activities of the WEA, and an examination of the opposition faced by the group. Each theme is discussed within the broader context of New Brunswick's changing industrial economy and the implications this held for a traditional family economy.

• COLPITTS, Nancy Jon, “Alma, New Brunswick and the Twentieth Century Crisis of Readjustment: Sawmilling Community to National Park” (M.A. thesis, Dalhousie University, 1983), 241 p.

  A study of the economic fortunes of forest workers in one part of Albert County, from the decline of the lumber industry in the early 20th century, to the arrival of the Fundy National Park in the 1940s. Earlier writers have tended to see forest workers as “docile, cheerful, efficient and cheap”, but this study stresses the strengths and resourcefulness of the local community. Despite the rise of the pulp and paper industry during this period, no pulp and paper mills were established in Albert County. Instead of going to cut wood in northern New Brunswick or Maine, or to work on the waterfront in Saint John, many workers determined to support a small-scale, family-oriented sawmilling industry in Albert County during the 1930s. The seasonal rhythms of logging and farming and the work of the lumber crews are described in some detail, with emphasis on the individual skills and interdependence required for a successful lumber crew. Ultimately, however, small-scale forest operations were threatened by lack of access to resources and capital, and by competition with the powerful, and government-favoured, pulp and paper industry. The most important strength of the traditional way of life was the way in which work in the lumber camps and saw mills was combined with fishing or farming activities: “the lumbering industry was the source of cash income and the farms were the source of food and fuel” . Falling back on local resources, the people of Alma maintained a relatively successful standard of living, even during the Depression of the 1930s. Part of the price of this achievement was a dependence on the paternalism of small local entrepreneurs. Ironically, this prepared the way for local residents to accept the much larger paternalism of the federal government, when it was decided to establish a national park in the district in 1947. The arrival of the park ended a multi-occupational way of life which, the author believes, had represented a realistic adjustment to the marginal position of Albert County within the 20th century Canadian economy.

• DUFFIE, J.D., “Woods Labour Policy: With Particular Regard to Conditions in New Brunswick” (MSc.F. thesis, University of New Brunswick, 1952),  p.

  Duffie examines the forest industry and its evolution from a small lumber industry with a more or less permanent workforce to the modern pulp and paper industry with the need for a large number of men who are mostly seasonal workers. The introduction of the pulp and paper industry at the end of the 19th century enabled men to have almost year-round employment, working in the woods and the saw mills. During the interwar years production of pulpwood increased greatly, but saw log production decreased just as rapidly. Woodsmen who previously worked in saw mills in summer were left without work. During the period of pulp and paper expansion, working and living conditions at the logging camps were poor. As the camps grew there was a loss of personal contact between the men and their employers. Wages fluctuated. At the turn of the century they were very low, increasing considerably during the prosperous years after the First World War, only to fall once more during the Depression. Prior to the Second World War, workers stayed in the woods only until they found employment elsewhere. The average length of stay was 44 days. By 1939, the availability of outside employment was such that conditions in the camps improved along with wages in order to attract and keep men in the woods. The job remained seasonal, however, and not conducive to a stable work force, with the average age being under 30.

• FAHS, Lois S., “The Social Situation in Seven Rural Communities in New Brunswick Studied as the Basis for Planning a Program of General Recreation With Special Emphasis on Dancing: The Report of a Type B Project” (Ph.D. in Education, Advanced School of Education, Teachers' College, Columbia University, 1941), 359 p.

  Lois Fahs viewed recreational programs as a way to help working people in rural New Brunswick communities “make real their dream of a better way of life”. As part of adult education programs, recreation (especially dancing), would preserve local culture and provide opportunities for ordinary people to develop leadership skills. In order to offer practical recommendations on how to set up such a program, Fahs visited seven rural New Brunswick communities from September 1940 to February 1941 interviewing local residents and observing community life. For each of these communities Fahs provides a general history of its settlement and economic development, outlines the occupations and wages of workers, describes the social, religious, educational and recreational life of the community and offers her own observations on the effect of the Second World War. Fahs was not content simply to describe these communities. Her real interest was in delineating the relationships between capital and labour. For each community she offers a social class analysis, placing the class relations of each community within the context of its individual historical economic development. Some indications of the nature of these class relations are apparent from the title of each chapter: Chapter 3 “Herring Chokers and Sounders”, North Head, Grand Manan (pp. 19-59); Chapter 4 “At the Call of the Angelus”, St. Leonard (pp. 60-89); Chapter 5 “Slaves of the Black Diamond”, Minto (pp. 90-139); Chapter 6 “Nineteenth Century Industry”, York Mills (pp. 140-184); Chapter 7 “Much Pullin' and Haulin'”, Bay du Vin (pp. 185-233); Chapter 8 “The Aristocracy and the People”, Richibucto (pp. 234-271); Chapter 9 “All Danes are Created Equal”, New Denmark (pp. 272-306). In analysing the relationship between capital and labour in Minto, Fahs pointed to the strength of the conflict between coal operators and the miners which persisted after the strike of 1937. As Fahs wrote: “The entire situation is very difficult. The miners hate the operators. The operators think that many of the miners are good-for-nothing, hot-headed, ignorant labourers. The miners are bent on getting a living wage, and the operators are bent on making as much profit as possible”. In contrast to the class conflict in Minto, Fahs observed more paternalistic industrial relations in York Mills. In this small community where most people were related to one another and knew each other from childhood, Fahs concluded that “while some of the people resent the fact that the owners get such a large share of the profits from the mill, labour trouble is an impossibility...”. In Richibucto, where “There have always been capital and labour, the aristocracy and the people, easily distinguishable, and living lives as different as day and night”, class relations took on yet another character. Her observations of work in these communities are attentive to both the work process itself and its class relationships. For example, in Bay du Vin she describes the changing seasonal work patterns of fishermen which take place in the context of their unchanging indebtedness to local capital, the Loggie Company. Lois Fahs' perceptive analysis of the way in which class relations vary from one New Brunswick rural community to another because of their different historical and material circumstances is the most valuable and original contribution of this thesis.

• FERGUSON, Carol, “Responses to the Unemployment Problem in Saint John, New Brunswick, 1929-1933” (M.A. thesis, University of New Brunswick, 1984), 239 p.

  An important study of the unemployment problem in Saint John in the early years of the Great Depression. The study offers insights into the social and economic structure of the city in the 1920s and 1930s and traces the development of public policy regarding unemployment. Most importantly, the study analyses the conditions and actions of the unemployed workers, a consideration often overlooked in studies of the unemployment problem. By the 1920s the people of Saint John were long familiar with the problems of unemployment from the city's experience first as a boom town based on ships and wood, and then from their position as Canada’s seasonal winter port. The author analyses the shape of the local labour market in the 1920s and then turns to an examination of the changing ways in which municipal authorities tried to come to grips with the problem of unemployment in the early years of the Great Depression. The main assumption governing the authorities was the belief, often expressed by Prime Minister R.B. Bennett, that unemployment was a symptom of individual failure and personal inadequacies. Relief payments, it followed, were basically a form of charity and must be kept extremely low in order to encourage workers to find work as soon as possible. Many unemployed workers did not share this view and argued that unemployment was a natural feature of the capitalist economy and that the unemployed must organize for their self-defence. The Workers’ League, formed in Saint John in August 1932, advanced this view aggressively. When municipal authorities in November 1932 attempted to force workers to labour on public works in return for their relief payments, the Workers’ League denounced this as “a return to slavery”. On a second similar occasion, in April 1933, the police attacked a crowd of unemployed workers and thus helped shift public sympathy to the side of the unemployed. The author concludes that the coming of unemployment insurance and the welfare state, both outcomes of the Great Depression, must be traced in part to the efforts of such local organizations as the Workers’ League, with their determination to defend their rights. In addition, the unemployed organizations provided an example of working-class organizing which would be a useful legacy for those who would build industrial unions in the late 1930s and 1940s.

• GALLAGHER, Delbert Wonlock, “The Commercial Fisheries of New Brunswick, 1926-1953” (M.A. thesis, Dept. of Economics, University of New Brunswick, 1955), 250 p.

  This thesis is mostly about fish markets, prices, catches and what governments should do to develop the fishing industry in New Brunswick. In an historical overview of the New Brunswick fishing industry from Confederation to the early 1950s, Chapter 1, Gallagher identifies the most persistent problem blocking development of the fishery: “almost every new method of fishing, having the object of saving labour and increasing production, has met with more or less opposition from the fishermen as a whole... These protests against apparent progress are not only due to the inbred conservatism of the fishermen, but also to a lack of capital”. Chapter 2, “Number and Location of Fishermen”, illustrates the wide fluctuations of employment in the industry from the 1920s to the 1950s. Generally, fishermen in New Brunswick were self-employed or remunerated on a share basis with few of them eligible for pension schemes, workmen's compensation and none entitled to unemployment insurance. Chapter 3 “The Fisheries 1926-1953”, examines historical changes in each of the herring, sardine, lobster, codfish, groundfish, smelt and salmon industries. Also noted are the attempts of fishermen in the 1930s to keep as many men as possible in the industry by opposing the introduction of trawlers. “By 1938 there were more than thirty per cent more fishermen engaged in primary operations in New Brunswick than there had been ten years previously” (p.101). Chapter 4 describes the seasonality of fishing supplemented with income from work on the farm, lumberwoods or casual labour. Information on the number of loans to fishermen, their purpose and amount is also given. Gallagher argues in Chapter 5 that New Brunswick fishermen need more efficient craft and gear, but most importantly, fishermen require increased income and greater independence from local monopolistic buyers. Within the fish processing industry (Chapter 6) Gallagher found employment declining. Between 1946 and 1951, the number of fish processing establishments increased over 35 per cent but employment fell by 25 per cent. The formation of a fisherman's union by a group of longshoremen and construction workers from the Saint John area who fish only in the summer months is mentioned but no date or further information is offered. Although Gallagher in the end laments opposition to progress, the thesis does suggest that opposition to labour reducing technology by fishermen was a much more organized defence of their employment than generally suggested.

• GARNETT, Rosemary Diane, “Government, Big Business and Fishing. Salisbury: A Case Study” (M.A. thesis, Dept. of Anthropology, University of New Brunswick, 1976), 104 p.

  This thesis examines the influence government and big business have had on a small English-speaking community in Northern New Brunswick. Initially, the community had a mixed economy of agriculture and fishing. It increasingly abandoned farming after the Second World War. Fishing became more profitable due to the lobster harvest and more capital-intensive, thus requiring fishermen to spend more time on the water. By the mid-1970s, only two lobster fishermen out of 34, however, relied solely on fishing for their income. Prior to the Second World War, most processing plants in the area owned their fleets and hired men to work on them. Since that time, however, the companies have given up their fleets due to the increased costs associated with modern fishing craft. Instead, they have financed individual fishermen (the banks refusing due to the risky nature of this business) who then agree to sell exclusively to the company financing them. Thus, the companies have retained the profitable side of processing, while maintaining a guaranteed catch from the fishermen it controls. With only a few independent fishermen in the area, the companies have effectively created a monopolistic situation. The government has restricted lobster fishing to those with a licence. While initially these were not too difficult to come by, the situation changed drastically in 1969 when the issue of licences was frozen. This has had a number of consequences for the fishermen. Originally young men worked as helpers on boats, in a sense as apprentices, learning the trade before they became fishermen themselves. Since no new licences are being granted, those who work as helpers are now just poorly paid seasonal workers. In addition, if lobster licences are not used, they are confiscated by the government. This has two ramifications. If a fisherman loses his boat and equipment in a storm and is unable to finance another outfitting by the following season, he loses his licence. It also prevents a lobster fisherman from engaging in land-based labour during the lobster season. While all of the fishermen work during the lobster season, the availability of work on land largely determines the number who continue to fish after lobster season ends. The sports industry has become a major employer of part-time workers and Garnett gives an extensive description of guiding in addition to lobster fishing.

• GIVAN, David Ernest, “Labour Law and the New Brunswick Teacher” (M.Ed. thesis, Dept. of Education, University of New Brunswick, 1976), 260 p.

  Traces historically the progressive development of contemporary labour law which affects the teacher in New Brunswick, emphasizing the legal nature of collective bargaining. The main focus of the study contained in Chapter 6 examines all legal cases that affect New Brunswick teachers and the legal principles which these cases set out. Also examined are the evolution of the Public Service Labour Relations Act (1968) and a variety of disputes between bargaining parties. Givan concludes that steady and favourable advances have been made in establishing the rule of law in labour-management relations within the teaching profession.

• GRANT, Harry Marshall, “Northumberland County: An Estimate of Its Wealth and Income” (M.A. thesis, Dept. of Economics, University of New Brunswick, 1941), 130 p.

  A detailed assessment of the problem of the depressed economy of Northumberland County in the first years of Second World War and recommendations for provincial government action. After providing a description of Northumberland County and statistics on its population, the author proceeds to a descriptive discussion of conditions in the various economic sectors of the county: Chapter 3 “Agriculture” ; Chapter 4 “Fisheries” ; Chapter 6 “Forestry” ; and Chapter 9 “Merchandising and Servicing” . Other estimates of wealth and income are pursued in Chapter 7 “Urban and Other Property” ; Chapter 8 “Utilites” ; Chapter 10 “Income - Governmental and Municipal Sources” ; and Chapter 11 “Marginal and Other Income” . In Chapter 4 Grant points out that the most significant problem for fishermen is that they must sell their catch at prices set by the fish dealers who also control credit to the fishermen. As Grant states: “Until the fishermen organize they cannot compel attention to their condition” . Chapter 5: “Co-operation and Group Action”, offers information on credit unions in New Brunswick. It also mentions the Miramichi Fish Producers Co-operative Limited formed in Loggieville (1939) to operate a fish packing plant and market fish co-operatively (pp. 47-48, 53). Wages of retail workers in the county obtained from the New Brunswick Fair Wage Officer Report in 1938 are listed on p. 82. Grant recommends that the New Brunswick government promote credit unions and adult education to improve the standard of living for residents of Northumberland County.

• HANOOMANSINGH, Ian Harvey, “The News Factory: Radio Station News in New Brunswick” (B.A. honours thesis, Mount Allison University, 1983), 148 p.

  A perceptive assessment of the ways in which news is gathered and released by private and public owned radio stations in the province of New Brunswick. Much of the research was conducted during several summer periods of employment by the author at private and public radio stations in New Brunswick. Chapter 4 “The Workers”, also uses information obtained through questionaires mailed to news directors and reporters at five private radio stations in Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton. These responses provide a clear picture of training and career patterns, daily routine in the newsroom, the physical characteristics of the work area, rates of pay and the perceptions by workers of the strengths and weaknesses of their own work and news coverage. A comparison of private and public radio station employees revealed that public stations employed more women, workers with university training and greater experience, as well as bilingual persons. Only one private station was unionized while all public radio stations were unionized. This resulted in lower pay rates for private station employees. Also, while in public radio stations there was a clear division of labour, private radio station employees were required to do anything that needed to be done.

• IRVING, Howard J., “Labour Management Relations in the Logging Industry With Particular Reference to Conditions In Eastern Canada” (M.Sc. in Forestry thesis, Dept. of Forestry, University of New Brunswick, 1953), 91 p.

  This thesis addresses the problem of a labour shortage in the logging industry in the early 1950s and recommends higher wages, improved working conditions and increased productivity through mechanization for the lumber industry. Howard Irving argues that the logging industry in Eastern Canada until recently had little need to address the issues of higher wages or improved working conditions in order to secure a steady supply of labour. The peak period of employment during the winter months in logging operations coincided with slack phases of employment in other occupations. Workers in agriculture, for example, traditionally had been an important pool of labour for the lumber industry. A declining farm population, however, no longer provided a ready labour supply. This meant that the logging industry in the 1950s was forced for the first time to confront the problem of securing sufficient workers. Information is provided on rates of pay and working conditions in the industry while Appendix B outlines the collective agreements in the logging industry in Canada by province. In New Brunswick, 600 workers in the independent and unaffiliated Restigouche Woodsmen's Union worked under a collective agreement.

• LAUTARD, Emile Hugh, “Brokers and Drivers: A Comparative Analysis of Long-Distance Truck Drivers” (M.A. thesis, Dept of Sociology, University of New Brunswick, 1971), 225 p.

  This study asks the question: “What are the consequences of vehicle ownership among truck drivers?” With information gathered from 100 oral interviews with long-distance drivers carrying general freight and frozen food for the three largest transport firms in New Brunswick, Lautard compares the position of self-employed brokers and wage-earning drivers in respect to work satisfaction, self-image, reputation and community life. Interviews were conducted by the author on the road through the summer of 1970. Chapter 2, “Occupational Experience of Truck Drivers”, describes the skills required to drive a truck, the types of driving jobs and the varied pay scales and management practices among the three transport firms. Chapter 3, “Job Satisfaction in a Mobile Technical System”, considers the expectations of truck drivers about their jobs and whether these expectations were realized. Drivers interviewed liked their jobs because of the freedom from direct supervision as well as for the mobility and freedom of movement on the highway. They spoke with pride of their status based on individual competence at work and the solidarity among drivers as expressed in strict adherence to rules of behaviour on the road. Lautard found that truck drivers did have considerable freedom fom direct supervision in their work process, but faced limitations in other ways on work autonomy. Brokers, owning tractors and/or trailers which they either operate themselves or employ other drivers to operate, enjoyed only partial control over working conditions. The transport firms which brokers contract with for jobs essentially controlled general conditions of work and policies governing the recruitment, supervison and discipline of the brokers' own drivers. Drivers, employed and not owning their own tractor or trailer, had virtually no control over their working conditions but, unlike brokers, were free from legal, financial and administrative responsibilities. The control exercised over brokers and drivers by transport firms is detailed in Chapter 4, “Organization and Ownership in the Trucking Industry” . As Lautard shows, the transport firms' powers rest with their authority to solicit and dispatch freight shipments. The advantages for transport firms under this owner-operator system are many. Since brokers are self-employed, transport firms do not make unemployment insurance, pension and workers' compensation contributions or pay for vacations or holidays. Transport firms also avoid investment in equipment or its maintenance. The power of transport firms is multiplied as many brokers purchase or finance their rigs through transport firms. Lautard describes the complex relationships that develop between brokers, drivers and management in these circumstances, as well as the conflict this leads to over distribution of work and pressures to carry unsafe loads. The thesis also addresses the themes of occupational status (Chapter 5) and the position of the truck driver in community life (Chapter 6).

• LEBLANC, Charles E., “Organization and Structure of the New Brunswick Labor Force” (M.Sc. Comm., Université de Moncton, 1966), 90 p.

  This thesis does not have a single theme, but consists of important historical and legal facts. Information from the Dominion Bureau of Statistics is put into chronological sequence. The age distribution for the New Brunswick work-force in the 1950s, unemployment statistics for the period, and also the causes of this unemployment, are presented. Seasonal unemployment in New Brunswick is reported very high because of the types of labour New Brunswickers do. Also information on migration and the number of people and salaries for different types of blue collar jobs are stated. The strikes and lock-outs in New Brunswick between 1960 and 1965 are listed.

• LEMON, Donald, “Public Relief Policy in Moncton: The Depression Years, 1929-1939” (M.A. Report, Dept. of History, University of New Brunswick, 1978), 72 p.

  The 1930s were difficult years for the many workers in Moncton who were unable to secure employment. This study analyzes the response of Moncton's municipal government to the unemployment crisis in their community and concludes that civic policies gave priority to financial stringency. Among the policies adopted by the city to keep its relief costs low were the surveillance of relief recipients and successive reductions in the amounts of food, clothing and rental assistance provided to the unemployed. In 1937 summer employees of the city were subjected to a compulsory savings plan whereby 25 per cent of their wages were held back until the winter months and then doled out in weekly payments. The following year, those who received relief were required to sign a contract allowing the city to deduct this amount from any future municipal wages they might receive.

• MACKENZIE, Eric Duncan, “The Historical Development of the New Brunswick Teachers' Association, 1902-1954” (M.Ed. thesis, Faculty of Education, University of New Brunswick, 1971), 252 p.

  A chronological history of the development of the New Brunswick Teachers' Association from 1902 to 1954 which stresses the struggle of teachers to gain recognition as a profession. Each chapter of the thesis identifies a stage of growth in the Association and provides a description of the educational setting in the province for that period. As explained in Chapter 2, “The Early Years 1902-1908”, the New Brunswick Teachers' Association (NBTA) grew out of the Albert County Teachers' Union founded 15 November 1902 by two rural teachers, E.A. Coleman and H.H. Stuart. Early goals of the NBTA included higher salaries, increased provincial government grants for teachers, and pensions. Chapter 3, “The Stuggle for Recognition and Solidarity 1918-1942”, argues that wartime inflation and a shortage of teachers contributed to a revitalization of the NBTA. The central goal of the NBTA became the recognition of the professional status of teaching at a time when teaching had become a “woman's occupation” . In 1919, for example, of 2004 teachers in New Brunswick only 115 of them were men. At its 1919 convention, the NBTA added to its constitution the provision that female teachers holding the same class of licence as male teachers be paid the same salary. The NBTA achieved protection for the salary levels of rural teachers in 1921 with the adoption of the Minimum Salary Act. The next significant achievement identified by the author is the 1941 Teaching Profession Act by which all teachers automatically became members of the NBTA. Chapter 4, “Through Wartime and Reconstruction 1942-1948”, describes the attempts of the NBTA to protect its members against the rising cost of living and the effects of the provincial government's lowered entrance standards to the profession as a solution to a shortage of teachers in New Brunswick. In 1942 the NBTA considered and rejected an affiliation with labour unions in the province. By 1943 the concerns of the NBTA were directed to school curriculum and general conditions of education in the province. Chapter 5, “Toward a More Professional Organization 1948-1954”, analyses the struggle within the NBTA over its organizational structure and goals. In 1950, for instance, the question of the affiliation of the NBTA with labour unions arose again. The NBTA attempted to achieve certification as a bargaining agent under the 1949 Labour Relations Act. A Teachers Arbitration Act was proposed but the Saint John Teachers' Association opposed this as it denied the right of mass resignation which they had used successfully in 1948 to secure impoved salaries. MacKenzie suggests that by the early 1950s the NBTA had finally secured public recognition as a professional organization.

• MCGIBBON, Mary Louise, “The Blue Collar Workers: A Study of Four Occupational Sub-Types” (M.A. thesis, Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, University of New Brunswick, 1972), 125 p.

  Using oral interviews with 70 blue collar workers in the Fredericton area, McGibbon demonstrates the relationship between actual work experience and social behaviour. This thesis puts forward two important arguments. First, rather than considering blue collar workers as a homogeneous group, it argues that it is more useful to see the distinctions between blue collar workers that arise from their work experience. In her study McGibbon found four distinct types of blue collar workers: supervisors, tradesmen and service workers (all of whom were employees), and jobbers (those who were self-employed). Secondly, McGibbon argues that rather than referring generally to skilled and unskilled workers, it is more appropriate to consider the actual type of employment, characteristics of the work setting, social relationships encountered at work, organization of the work process and the differences arising from work with people or with things. In examining the socio-economic background of blue collar workers (Chapter 3), McGibbon found that most had fathers who were also blue collar workers and less than 10 per cent of those interviewed had completed high school. More than half of the workers had once owned farms or small woodlots, some had lost this land in the expropriation for the Oromocto army camp. Most took up regular work by the age of 15 and all started their work careers with casual or manual work. The level of job satisfaction (Chapter 4) expressed by each of the types of blue collar workers largely depended on the amount of control they had over their work. When workers found little satisfaction from their work, they tended to emphasize other aspects of their jobs. For example, tradesmen and service workers who often had little control over their work stressed the regularity of their employment, fringe benefits and the physical conditions of work. Attitudes toward evening leisure activities depended upon whether a worker was an employee or independent worker (Chapter 5). Employees tended to divide their days into work and non-work segments while jobbers considered work as “a way of life” and placed little importance on leisure activities. This difference between employees and jobbers was also reflected in attitudes to participation in community activities (Chapter 6). Employees were much more concerned than jobbers with social acceptance and social activities in the community. The educational aspirations for their sons also reflected the work experiences of the different groups of blue collar workers (Chapter 7). Supervisors wished their sons to go to university as a way to secure mobility up the work hierarchy. Tradesmen were concerned for their sons' financial security and occupational mobility. Jobbers, if their work was highly controlled or specialized, wanted their sons to go to university in order to obtain positions with scope for decision making. Service workers placed value on the prestige of their sons' occupation and rejected for their sons all forms of blue collar work. Only jobbers emphasized that it would be important for their sons to like the nature of their work. This study concludes that employees' social attitudes were considerably influenced by the organizaton of their work, their occupational mobility, their status in relation to others and financial security. They tended to “ldquo;accept the values of society as viewed in the work hierarchy” . Jobbers, in contrast, usually did not encounter an organizational hierarchy at work and were more concerned with the quality of their workmanship and job satisfaction. Moreover, whether or not workers emphasized the importance of economic opportunity tended to depend on if they had a history of financial insecurity and low income. This thesis contains a number of quotations from the oral interviews conducted by the author. As one mechanic employed at the New Brunswick Electric Power Commission stated, expressing why he preferred his new job over his former job in a garage: “Before there was always someone looking over your shoulder. Now I'm out on my own and, as long as I do a good job, nobody says anything to me” .

• POIRIER, Edmund M., “The Founding of Allardville Settlement” (M.A. Report, Dept. of History, University of New Brunswick, 1973), 60 p.

  One response to the Great Depression was to move “back to the land” . Between 1933 and 1942 the Department of Lands and Mines approved 4,467 settlement lots on crown land. This study looks at one group of settlers in the interior of Gloucester County. In 1932, with the encouragement of municipal authorities and clergy, families from Bathurst, and later from Shippegan and Caraquet, began to take up uncleared lots on the Bathurst-Newcastle Road. There they sought to escape the “helplessness of life in the urban community” during the 1930s by making a living on the land. As one applicant wrote: “I am 28 years old. I am married and have four children. For the past two years, I have not been steadily employed. I can only find work for three or four days a week which is not enough to provide for the needs of my family. I need a farm” . With no resources, equipment or experience, the settlers continued to depend on government assistance for food and supplies and sold pulpwood for whatever income it would bring. By 1939 there were some 129 families with 575 people settled in Allardville. Only 310 acres of land were cultivated. “The unquestionable conclusion can be only that all efforts to produce a self-supporting agricultural community had failed”, the author writes. Nevertheless, they had “escaped the worst ravages of the Depression. They had returned to the land, built homes, grown garden crops for their needs, accepted government assistance and supplememented their incomes with off-farm employment or the sale of lumber from their lots” . Following the Depression, the community ceased to grow: “It exists now as a region where off-farm employment produces the major source of income” .

• SIMINOFF, Laura Avis, “Traps, Nets and Networks: An Anthropological Study of a New Brunswick Fishing Community” (M.A. thesis, Dept. of Anthropology, University of New Brunswick, 1979), 149 p.

  Siminoff studies one of three communities on Grand Manan Island. She describes in detail various methods of fishing, the changes that have taken place since the Second World War in the economy and the social relationships of the islanders, and the effect government regulations have had on traditional work patterns. Until 1945, a combination of subsistence fishing and farming was not uncommon among the island's inhabitants. Two factors were involved in the abandonment of farming and the rise of the fishing industry. As capital investment in fishing boats and the demand for fish products increased, workers spent more and more time fishing. In addition, new farm laws required costly fencing and caused the abandonment of animal husbandry. Now virtually all of the island's food is imported. The high capital costs involved in fishing have led to a great diversification in the types of sea products harvested and the methods used. Lobster is the lucrative base for the post-war fishing industry, but once that season is complete, other fishing operations are undertaken including weir fishing, trawling and purse-seining. Prior to 1945, fishing was labour-intensive and entry into this occupation was relatively easy. Since then, however, the problem has been to raise enough capital to finance a fishing operation. Capital is generally raised by securing a low-interest loan from the New Brunswick Fishermen's Loan Board or from one of the processing companies on the island. Those who choose the latter route sell their catch to the company financing them. Grand Manan as a result of its isolation has produced a symbiotic relationship between the local businessmen, including the processing companies, who control the economy, and the fishermen upon whom the businessmen are dependent. Because of the community involvement in this interdependent relationship, little overt exploitation has been manifested. Often businessmen who own shares in a weir operation will take part in the physical labour in order to maintain a facade of egalitarianism, while the fishermen have espoused an anti-union and anti-cooperative philosophy. The only organized labour at the time of this study was a purse-seiners' co-op where catch was almost always sold in Nova Scotia or the United States. The balance in this social and economic interdependence had begun to shift at the time of this study. The freeze on the issue of new licences imposed by the government has made it difficult for young men to enter the industry as independents. The fish companies, meanwhile, are increasingly outfitting their own boats to compete in the harvest. In addition, the modern fishing weirs being constructed are less dependent on labour and are controlled increasingly by businessmen who no longer take part in the work. The result appears to be the growing proletarianization of the work force and a clear division of labour.

• SMITH, William Young, “Axis of Administration: Saint John Reformers and Bureaucratic Centralization in New Brunswick, 1911-1925” (M.A. thesis, Dept. of History, University of New Brunswick, 1984), 142 p.

  A study of the expansion of provincial government activity in the early 20th century in three areas: electric power, public health, and workers' compensation. In the case of each reform it is argued that the initiative for change came from developments in the city of Saint John. Chapter 3 (pp. 47-71) examines the origins of the Workmen's Compensation Board, established in 1918, and shows the role of organized labour in Saint John in campaigning for this reform. Early legislation, which in some cases excluded workers in the most hazardous occupations, was very limited in scope. The growing strength of organized labour during the 1910s kept the issue in the public eye. By 1914, when the New Brunswick Federation of Labour was established, there were 24 local unions in Moncton and 29 local unions in Saint John. The First World War highlighted the significance of the longshoremen and their work: in 1916, for instance, Local 273 of the International Longshoremen's Association had 2300 members and was the largest single union local in Canada. Active leaders in the campaign for workers' compensation were James Tighe, the longshoremen's business agent, and James Sugrue, president of the NBFL, who subsequently became a member of the board. The Workmen's Compensation Act (1918) established a board of judges with the power to award pensions to injured workers and to the widows and dependents of workers killed on the job. In contrast to earlier laws, the question of negligence in accidents was set aside in favour of a system of collective responsibility. The awards were financed by surcharges on company payrolls. In 1920 the provisions of the act were extended to loggers, and organized labour rallied successfully to defend this improvement in the administration of compensation.

• TRUEMAN, Allan M., “New Brunswick and the 1921 Federal Election” (M.A. thesis, Department of History, University of New Brunswick, 1975), 446 p.

  For a short time at the end of the First World War, third-party politics flourished among farmers and workers in New Brunswick. The story of the United Farmers of New Brunswick and various Independent Labour Party branches can be followed by referring to various sections of this very detailed thesis dealing with politics in New Brunswick during the 1917-1921 period. The UFNB were established in 1918 and had, by 1921, 141 locals with 10,000 members. It was esentially a farmers' cooperative movement which entered politics to advance the interests of farmers. In an October 1919 byelection, UFNB president Thomas W. Caldwell, an East Florenceville farmer, was elected in Victoria-Carleton as an independent member of the House of Commons. In the October 1920 provincial election, 26 UFNB candidates ran for the 48-seat House of Assembly. They received 21 per cent of the vote and nine members were elected: five from Victoria and Carleton counties, two from Northumberland, and one each from Westmorland and Charlotte. In addition, two candidates running on a joint Farmer-Labour ticket, were elected in Northumberland County; one of these was John Martin of Chatham, who was president of a union called the Independent Labour Alliance, composed of lumberworkers and industrial workers on the Miramichi, formed in 1919 and claiming 3,000 members in 1920. In the 1921 federal election Caldwell was re-elected to the House of Commons in Victoria-Carleton in that election. There were also Farmer-Labour tickets in Westmorland and in Saint John-Albert. Overall the third-party candidates took 10.4 per cent of the vote. In Saint John-Albert the candidates were F.A. Campbell, president of the labour council and a leader of the street railway workers' union, and William M. Calhoun, an Albert County farmer and UFNB president. Appendices A and B (pp. 406-9) reproduce the political platforms of the UFNB in 1919 and 1921. Relevant information is presented throughout this lengthy study, but the most useful sections are chapters II ( “Party Organization and Political Issues, 1918-1921” ) and VI ( “Victoria-Carleton: Bastion of the United Farmers of New Brunswick” ).

• VAUGHAN, Yvonne L., “The Autonomy of Public School Teachers” (M.A. thesis, Dept. of Sociology, University of New Brunswick, 1972), 338 p.

  An analysis of selected variables which relate to the autonomy of teachers, that is: “the control exercised over work activities by individuals in terms of their occupational goals”. This study of a largely female work force is primarily concerned with the role of teachers as employees and professionals, and concludes that teachers were autonomous within the classroom but less so within the school organization. The study is largely based on oral interviews with 32 grade five and six English-speaking teachers and 17 principals within the Fredericton area. Chapter IV, “The Parameters of Autonomy”, shows how the economic and educational policies limit or enhance the automony of teachers in the classroom, for example, in the use of prescribed texts versus alternate readings preferred by the teacher. Chapter V, “Modes of Autonomy”, explores the control exercised by teachers within the classroom compared to control exercised within the school itself. Chapter VI, “Orientations, Relationships and Autonomy”, looks at social networks among teachers, contact with supervisors and work evaluations conducted by principals. Chapter VII, “The Protection of Autonomy”, outlines the role of the New Brunswick Teachers' Federation and perceptions of the federation by teachers.

• VERNEX, Jean-Claude, “Les francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick: géographie d'un groupe ethnoculturel minoritaire” (Thèse, Université de Lille III, 1978), 990 p.

• WARREN, Darlen Charlotte, “Adult Education in English-Speaking New Brunswick in the 1930s: The Search for a Comprehensive Approach” (B.A. honours thesis, Mount Allison University, 1980), 125 p.

  An historical study of the early approaches and the establishement of adult education in New Brunswick. While adult education in New Brunswick at first followed the cooperative model existing in Nova Scotia, the New Brunswick government through the Department of Education became increasingly involved in directing the diverse adult education activities in the province. Appendices provide useful information on enrollments in early adult education evening classes and on course subjects.

• WILLIAMS, Thomas David, “A Study in Governmental Conciliation Procedure in Labour Disputes With Particular Reference to Experience in New Brunswick, 1946-1952” (M.A. thesis, Dept. of Economics, University of New Brunswick, 1955), 105 p.

  Much of this discussion of government conciliation in labour disputes is of a general nature rather than a specific historical account of its development in New Brunswick. Chapter 3, “Developments in New Brunswick and the Position in 1952”, outlines the history of conciliation legislation in New Brunswick from the first act in 1938 and offers some comparisons with other provinces in Canada. Chapter 5, “The Procedure Investigated: 1954”, identifies the aims of the New Brunswick conciliation procedure and lists the strikes, number of men involved and “man-days lost” from 1947 to 1952. Chapter 6, “The Process of Conciliation”, gives the duties of the New Brunswick conciliation officer and the occupational composition of the conciliaton boards. The most useful part is Chapter 7, “The Basis of the Board Decision”, based on the New Brunswick Conciliation Board's case files. Williams found that wages were the most disputed issue within the case files that he examined. Conciliation boards attempted to reconcile the need of workers for a “Fair Wage” and the need of industry to compete effectively. Several excerpts from board decisions are quoted including this definition of a fair wage: “a man can live off it without acute hardship, that it is similar to the rates paid for similar work in the locality” . Also mentioned are conciliation board disussions on hours of work and on union security. Williams found that the Board generally did not make recommendations about union demands for a security clause. Chapter 10, “What People Think About the Act” offers responses to a questionnaire.

• WRIGHT, Mary Jean, “Fishing Together: The Importance of Women's Activities for Economic Life in a New Brunswick Fishing Village” (M.A. thesis, Dept. of Anthropology, University of New Brunswick, 1980), 114 p.

  Historical changes in the ownership of the fishing industry and the division of labour between men and women are the central themes of this study of Grand Manan Island. Mary Jean Wright argues that within the fishing industry, men have acted as the catchers of fish and women as fish processors. While women once worked in household production processing fish caught by their male family members, women now work as wage labourers in fish processing plants. Nearly all women on Grand Manan Island have worked at wage labour at some point in their lives and Wright argues that the economic contribution of women is essential to the family economy of fishing households. The second important change in the fishing industry is an increasing concentration of ownership by local businessmen who are linked to interests outside of the community. Wright argues that men and women in Grand Manan who fish for a living are losing control of the means of production at the same time as the ownerhip of production is becoming concentrated. Part of the research for this thesis was field work in Grand Manan in the summer of 1979.