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History Post-confederation (1867-)

The Lights on the Tipple Are Going Out

Fighting Economic Ruin in a Canadian Coalfield Community

by (author) Thomas Langford

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2024
Category
Post-Confederation (1867-), Labor & Industrial Relations, Social History, Environmental Policy
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774869317
    Publish Date
    Oct 2024
    List Price
    $125.00
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780774869287
    Publish Date
    Oct 2024
    List Price
    $115.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774869294
    Publish Date
    May 2025
    List Price
    $39.95

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Description

The Canadian postwar economic boom did not include one western coal-mining region. When the Canadian Pacific Railway switched to diesel power, over 2,000 coal-production jobs were lost in the Crowsnest Pass and Elk Valley. The Lights on the Tipple Are Going Out tells the story of its fight for survival.

 

Underground mine closures began in 1950, prompting attempts by unions, leftist parties, municipal governments, and business groups to save the local economy. Efforts to reindustrialize in the mid-1960s brought unregulated growth, unsafe working conditions, and pollution. Starting in 1968, new strip mines were built to produce metallurgical coal for Asia-Pacific steelmakers.

 

Not only is this an interesting regional history, but the consideration of the role of labour unions, local communists, and grassroots environmentalists makes it especially compelling. Today, with technological change in steel manufacturing on the horizon, propelled by the climate crisis, Langford argues that the Crowsnest Pass and Elk Valley must look toward ecosystem restoration, sustainable economic activities, and the inclusion of First Nations in decision making in order to embrace a future beyond coal.

About the author

Contributor Notes

Tom Langford is a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Calgary. He is the author of Alberta’s Day Care Controversy: From 1908 to 2009 and Beyond and co-editor, with Wayne Norton, of A World Apart: The Crowsnest Communities of Alberta and British Columbia. He has contributed various articles on the Crowsnest Pass and Elk Valley to Prairie Forum, BC Studies, Alberta History, and Labour/Le Travail.