Lachlan Mackinnon - Closing Sysco: Industrial Decline in Atlantic Canadas Steel City

Industrial Decline in Atlantic Canadas Steel City

LACHLAN MACKINNON

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS

Toronto Buffalo London

University of Toronto Press 2020

Toronto Buffalo London

utorontopress.com

Printed in Canada

ISBN 978-1-4875-0591-2 (cloth)ISBN 978-1-4875-3296-3 (EPUB)

ISBN 978-1-4875-2402-9 (paper)ISBN 978-1-4875-3295-6 (PDF)

Studies in Atlantic Canada History

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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: Closing Sysco : industrial decline in Atlantic Canadas steel city / Lachlan MacKinnon.

Names: MacKinnon, Lachlan, 1988 author.

Series: Studies in Atlantic Canada history.

Description: Series statement: Studies in Atlantic Canada history | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190204044 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190204753 | ISBN 9781487524029 (softcover) | ISBN 9781487505912 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781487532956 (PDF) | ISBN 9781487532963 (EPUB)

Subjects: LCSH: Sydney Steel Corporation. | LCSH: Deindustrialization Nova Scotia Sydney History 20th century. | LCSH: Deindustrialization Social aspects Nova Scotia Sydney. | LCSH: Plant shutdowns Nova Scotia Sydney History 20th century. | LCSH: Steel industry and trade Nova Scotia Sydney History 20th century. | LCSH: Steel industry and trade Nova Scotia Sydney Employees Social conditions 20th century. | LCSH: Sydney (N.S.) Social conditions 20th century.

Classification: LCC HD3616.C24 S936 2019 | DDC 338.9716/95dc23

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This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council, an Ontario government agency.

For Jim McCarron.
Whose life, work, and memory inform these pages and influence those who remain.

Many people have helped to bring this book to publication. Steven High was an indispensable thesis adviser, mentor, and friend. Ron Rudin, Barbara Lorenzkowski, Craig Heron, and Cynthia Hammond each provided their time, expertise, and generous comments on the manuscript.

The McCarron family Tommy, Gerry, Bobby, and Lorraine have all generously walked me through their memories. Thanks to each of you for your willingness to answer my endless questions about growing up as members of a steelmaking family in Sydney and working at the plant.

I am also eternally grateful to all of those who shared their stories. Dave Ervin, Elizabeth Beaton, Fred James, Bernie Britten, Mickey Campbell, Adrian Murphy, John Campbell, Fabian Smith, Joe Legge, Charles MacDonald, Manning MacDonald, John Hamm, Sheldon Andrews, George MacNeil, Bill McNeil, John Murphy, Dave Nalepa, Greg MacLeod, Teresa MacNeil, Scott Stewart, Gordie Gosse, Don MacGillivray, Joel MacLean, Alana MacNeil, Debbie Ouellette, and Juanita McKenzie all contributed to this manuscript through their accounts.

I also want to offer thanks to the staff at the Beaton Institute Archives at Cape Breton University for their help in identifying and retrieving documents, audio files, images, maps, and many other sources that are cited within these pages. Anne Marie MacNeil and Jane Arnold are especially appreciated for their extensive knowledge of the archival holdings, their constant care for material and requests, and their knowledge of Cape Breton. This project could not have happened without the resources of the Beaton Institute.

My appreciation goes out to all of my friends. Kris Archibald, Andy Parnaby, and Don Nerbas have likely heard each of these chapters in depth over copious amounts of coffee thanks for always helping to talk it through.

A special thanks to Steven Wadden for his photography and his interest in the project coming from the same generational space, its interesting that we started asking many of the same questions from different angles.