1942: Nova Scotia

The loss of twenty United Nations merchant ships in the St. Lawrence River and Gulf, including the Nova Scotia-Newfoundland ferry steamer Caribou with a loss of 137 lives, brought the war very close to Nova Scotia during the year. The sinking of the Caribou was particularly sobering since the dead included sixteen women and fourteen children, together with many other non-combatants. The shock of these losses was the more severe because hitherto Nova Scotia had benefited from the war. Its shipping, paper, and steel industries have felt the effects of the war boom far more than the industries of some of the other provinces. On Cape Breton Island, the steel industry underwent an expansion of 40 per cent in the first year of the war. The following year saw an even greater boom in the secondary steel industry at Trenton and New Glasgow — which has been cut down by labor difficulties. There has also been considerable construction and development at the port of Halifax.

Nova Scotia strongly supported Prime Minister King in his request for release from his promise not to draft men for overseas service, voting 'yes' by approximately four to one in the Apr. 27 plebiscite.

The population of Nova Scotia in 1941 was 573,190 as against 512,846 in the 1931 census, according to figures released early in 1942. Since the gain was close to the average for Canada as a whole, no change was made in Nova Scotia's representation in Parliament.

1941: Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia has probably been more drastically affected by the war than any other Canadian province. The depression which long engulfed the fishing, mining, and shipbuilding industries gave way in 1940 and 1941 to intense activity. Halifax once more came into its own as a great world port. With the renewed economic activity there developed a considerable amount of labor unrest, particularly in the coal mines. The past year and a half saw eighteen strikes in the coal mines alone. These are to be attributed to bad living conditions, arbitrary actions by management, and, to a lesser extent, dissatisfaction with the prevailing wage scale. Divisions within the unions also seemed to account for a considerable amount of labor's unrest. In addition to the mines, discontent was also evident among longshoremen, shipyard workers, fish cutters, and foundry workers. Although labor in the Maritime provinces is wholly behind the government in the prosecution of the war, there can be no question that the prevailing dissatisfaction interfered with the war effort.

A sweeping victory was scored by the Liberal Party in Nova Scotia's 1941 provincial elections which were held at the end of October. Liberals won 23 of the 29 seats in the legislature, the remaining 6 seats being equally divided between the Conservatives and the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. Mr. L. W. Faser, leader of the Conservatives, met defeat in the election. The Liberals have been continually in power in the province since 1933.

1940: Nova Scotia

Contrary to all predictions, the Liberals swept Nova Scotia in the Dominion elections on March 26. The Liberals obtained ten seats in the House of Commons, and the Conservatives only one. In Cape Breton South, Claire Gillis, candidate of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, defeated a Liberal by a narrow margin. It was the first time in Canadian history that a C.C.F. candidate had won east of the Great Lakes. In the Dominion Cabinet shake-up on July 8, Angus MacDonald, Liberal Premier of Nova Scotia, was named Minister of Defense for the Navy.

At the regular session of the provincial legislature, which was opened on March 5 by Chief Justice Sir Joseph Chrisholm in the absence of Lieutenant Governor Robert Irwin, steps were taken to make Nova Scotia's mineral resources more readily available for the Dominion's war effort. Areas containing manganese, tungsten, molybdenum, antimony, and other strategic war materials were made subject to forfeiture should the need arise in connection with national defense.

Havoc was wrought in Nova Scotia by a tropical hurricane which struck the Maritime Provinces on Sept. 17. The wind rose as high as seventy-five miles an hour. Damage throughout the three provinces was estimated to be in excess of a million dollars. The Nova Scotia apple crop suffered to the extent of some $250,000. It is estimated that 50 per cent of the rich Annapolis Valley yield was destroyed. Fishing villages, summer resorts, and small craft in the harbors suffered heavy damage. Yarmouth on Nova Scotia's south shore felt the brunt of the wind, and there was considerable damage at Halifax.

The Earl of Athlone, Canada's new Governor General, and his wife, arrived secretly in Halifax on June 19 aboard a British cruiser. Because of the war he was greeted quietly, with a complete absence of the ceremony usual for such occasions.

1939: Nova Scotia

New industrial activity, brought about by the war, gave Nova Scotia hope that 1939 marked the end of its long depression. Not since the end of the last war have the province's manufacturing industries operated at near capacity. With a view to preparing a balanced industrial plant to supply wartime needs which could be converted to peacetime requirements without serious dislocation, a new Ministry of Industry was set up by the provincial government. The new department is headed by George E. Hagen, a Halifax contractor. Special attention is to be given to the rehabilitation of the iron and steel industry which, because of the rich coal deposits on Cape Breton Island, is capable of considerable expansion. General industrial expansion is also contemplated. In setting up the new department, considerable stress was placed on the fact that Nova Scotia consumed $30,000,000 worth of manufactured goods produced elsewhere in Canada, and sold only $15,000,000 of its own factory products throughout the Dominion. Plans were drawn up to bring about a better balance in the exchange of goods.

Nova Scotia enjoyed the distinction of being visited during the year by the rulers of two great world powers. King George and Queen Elizabeth entered the province on June 14 at Pictou and sailed from Halifax on June 15. President Roosevelt, after spending a short vacation in New Brunswick, sailed along the Nova Scotian coast in August, making several stops. At Halifax he was received by Acting Premier A. S. MacMillan and Mayor Walter Mitchell.

The world's first Gaelic college was opened at St. Ann's, Cape Breton Island, on July 26 by Premier Angus L. MacDonald.

The Bank of Nova Scotia reported total assets on Dec. 31, 1938, of $309,305,815, a gain of $9,826,113. Deposits were $253,291,054. Both figures were record highs for the year-end. Fishing, Nova Scotia's principal industry, showed a yield well above that of 1938.

1938: Nova Scotia

Economic Problems.

Depression in the fishing and mining industries continued to take its toll in unemployment and destitution in many parts of Nova Scotia in 1938. Various efforts, official and unofficial, were made during the year to meet the problem. Spurred by the spectacular discovery of petroleum in an undersea mine, Angus L. MacDonald appointed a committee to make an economic survey of the basic natural resources of the province under the general supervision of the Nova Scotia Economic Council. George V. Haythorne of the Department of Social Research of the Nova Scotia University, newly appointed secretary of the Economic Council, was named on the committee to conduct the survey. Premier MacDonald also held forth hope that the new Canadian-United States trade treaty would aid Nova Scotia. Particular hope was seen for greater activity in the fishing and pulp-wood industries. Late in October, the provincial government successfully floated an issue of $4,567,000 in 3½ per cent bonds for highway purposes.

Meeting in Halifax early in November, representatives of 12,000 United Mine Workers from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick proposed the establishment of a 'Nova Scotia Coal Development and Utilization Council.' This council would serve as 'the actual contact point between the coal producer and the consumer,' and would be designed to answer technical and marketing questions, such as the factors which drive consumers to use substitute fuels.

Finances.

The 106th annual statement of the Bank of Nova Scotia showed deposits of $242,417,184, an increase of nearly $4,000,000 in 1937 over the previous year. Investments in Dominion and provincial securities, municipal, railway, and other bonds and securities were $121,689,039, an increase of $3,867,950 for the year.