No Public Involvement

With regard to the project, some of its planning procedures, though standard for the day and for many subsequent decades, would have to be regarded as rigid social engineering in contrast with today's ideals. Neither the Relief Committee nor the Relief Commission conducted public meetings pertaining to reconstruction; it was a reflex reaction to call in the experts and let matters stand at that. Faith in non-elected professionals to manage urban problems had a firm base in the then current philosophy on civic government. City Government by Commission and special purpose Commissions in civic administration had a kinship with the concept of rebuilding the devastated area by a federally appointed Commission.

Indeed, the decade before the First World War witnessed a flood of Commissions and Boards on all levels of government, each possessing quasi-legislative and regulatory powers. The war crisis, too, fortified the paring away of political and personal rights. Wartime psychology left little leeway for public consultation while emphasizing the need for sacrifice and dictatorial measures.

Still, management of the situation without bringing in citizens did not pass unchallenged. Some residents resented not having an opportunity for participation. Only a little more than a month after the explosion, the Relief Committee found its work the object of a protest from the north end. A delegation from wards 4, 5, and 6 objected to the social workers brought in from outside the city. 'There were even some of our own local workers who, it is claimed, had insulted North End sufferers.' More interesting, however, the north enders, according to the Committee's minutes, demanded representation 'whether we like it or not.'(53)

The threat did not materialize and the three Relief Commissioners who presently replaced the Committee received appointment by federal Order-in-Council despite sentiment on the part of victims for having some role in determining the future of their old neighbourhood. With neither elected representation nor a labor liaison, the Commission could act decisively but not without misunderstanding.





Hydrostone commercial district in the 1920's (National Archives of Canada)





A number of the citizens of the north end objected to experts determining their future; they requested that the Commission confine itself 'to paying out sums to individual householders for their losses, and to leave the citizens of the north end thereafter to work out their own salvation.'

The conflicting positions were capsulized by an Ottawa reporter: 'the north end preferred democracy, but it is a question whether democracy included the right to build up another shack-town for the children of Halifax industrial workers to grow up in.'(54)

Representative of an additional trait of planning that could not pass unchallenged today, the Richmond scheme accepted and attempted to abet segregation by class. One might also question whether the zoning measures that rigidly stipulated building and lot lines as well as land-use provided benefits or headaches for Richmond dwellers. These significant flaws in execution point to paternalism. However, equally important is understanding the scheme's isolation.

Next: Conclusion

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This document was last modified on March 8, 2000.