“The lesson brought home to the Maritime entrepreneur by the industrial experience between 1879 and 1895 was that geography would defeat any attempt to compete at parity with a central Canadian enterprise.”
This quote is drawn from the position of T.W. Acheson in his book, “The National Policy and Maritime Industrialization (1880-1910). In this context, Acheson was putting across the point that the geographical location of provinces such as the Maritimes played a crucial role in pulling some regions back in terms of industrialization.
While Central Canada benefited largely from the industrialization era due to the national policy of Canadian federal government, the Maritimes did not enjoy equal privileges as central Canada. In this case, national policy caused regional imbalance which saw some geographical regions such as the Maritimes drag behind in terms of industrializations.
While other regions such as Quebec developed well through the industrialization process, the Maritimes lagged behind because it did not have equal privileges with other regions in terms of national policy.
This quote is important for a student of History students because it enables him/her to learn the effects of inequality from history. It gives them an opportunity to see the need of applying policies and economic benefits to all regions addressed by the formulated policies. It also enables them to become politically responsible leaders in future who will apply all policies and rules for equal benefits of all regions affected.
