Diversification (4.1 pp 286) During the early 20th century the economy of NL became increasingly diversified. The fishery was no longer the top dog due to several reasons.

These…Problems More people = more people fishing Harvest rate per person declined So…all things being equal, everyone earned less.

Cod Biomass The second BIG problem was the physical decrease in cod biomass off NL These can be attributed to lower ocean productivity (less reproduction – 50% decrease!)

Changing Markets Increased foreign competition was another problem for the fishery Rail Lines and Steamships in Europe (France and Norway) could ship fish around easily In a rush to compete, NL began exporting lower grades of fish…that garnered lower prices.

Need for Diversity A lot of our products (tea, flour, molasses, bulk salt, medicines, tobacco and rum) still needed to be imported With a struggling fishery (and increasing population) the cost of imports was often greater than saltfish exports!

Policy of Progress Sir William Whiteway Push to create employment via the development of our natural resources The first step…a railway across the island

So…. The government realized that they needed economic diversity AND they had discovered agricultural, forest and mineral resources (with the help of Mi’Kmaw guides!) but accessing them was another story. Hence, the NL railway construction!

Golden Age In the decades that would follow, Whiteway lead us to prosperity and realized much of his vision. 19th century recession was ending, price of fish and other exports was on the rise and things were going smoothly in other sectors during this pre-war period.

Sir Robert Bond Came after Whiteway and was a significant individual in the history of NL He worked to worked to protect our fishery, renegotiated the railway contract and finalized the entente cordiale. Bond was knighted for his efforts in 1901

Adding Perspective We are going to now break into small groups and consider the following question: “To what extent is the economy of our community economically diversified today?”