Thesis (Ph. D.)--Dalhousie University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 342-384).

This thesis is an account of the response of the cigarette manufacturers to threats to their interests arising from the smoking and health issue. The purpose of the paper is to provide a case study of a Canadian interest group, and specifically, of a Canadian business group. The tobacco industry offers advantages as a subject because of the availability of published material on numerous facets of the smoking and health controversy, including a year of legislative hearings. As a case study, the paper is essentially descriptive rather than theoretical. It is divided into four chapters. The first chapter deals with the characteristics and strategic position of the industry, including the nature of the forces in opposition. The second chapter describes the government institutions concerned with the smoking and health issue and the access of the industry to these institutions. The third chapter describes the evolution of governmental policy and evaluates the effectiveness of the pressures, direct and indirect, brought to bear by the industry. The concluding chapter places the pattern of interaction between the industry and the government in a comparative perspective and suggests a categorization of the Canadian experience. It is hoped by this approach, rather than a chronological description, to describe with some thoroughness the forms of pressure or influence exerted by the industry on the policy-makers concerned with the issue in question. Three conclusions derive from the account. First, the main focus of activity was at the departmental level, though the Commons played a substantial role. Second, the industry operated from a position of strength by virtue of its economic position and the dependence of other groups on its welfare. Pressures from this position were a major force in preventing abrupt governmental interference with its commercial activities, despite the seriousness of the health issue. Third, the success and setbacks of the American tobacco industry influenced the course of events in Canada. It is suggested that these conclusions may have some general application to Canadian interest group theory, though their main reference is to the case study conducted. The study draws heavily on the hearings of the Standing Committee on Health, Welfare and Social Affairs, publications of the Department of National Health and Welfare, publications of the industry, and Hansard. Officials in Ottawa provided information on a number of developments. Reports in the Globe and Mail and the Financial Post also proved valuable. Where appropriate, reference is made to studies of other Canadian interest groups and observations from interest group theory in general. The structure of the paper is to be a large extent inspired by the introductory chapter in Harry Eckstein's Pressure Group Politics, which emphasizes the manifold nature of pressure and the variety of factors determining its form and direction. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

Forests and the forest industry have been dominant features in North Central British Columbia since initial settlement of the area in the 1900's. Trees have been logged and sawed into lumber to be sold to the residents of the three prairie provinces, and more recently, peeled for plywood and chipped for pulp to be exported abroad. As a result of the region's peripheral location and dependence upon these distant markets, the industry has had to adjust continuously to external pressures. Changing conditions such as expansion or contraction of markets, government decisions to build railways, changes in provincial forest management policies, and the introduction of a pulp economy to the area, have forced the industry to adapt its processes and products so that the North Central Interior could compete with other forest product regions. A gradual rationalization of the industry has occurred in both the structure and location of producing units within the region. Several periods in the development of the industry are identifiable as a series of external stimuli, and internal responses. In its initial years, in the early 1900's, the industry consisted of a few sawmills cutting rough lumber along the upper Fraser River. Later, in the years prior to World War II, poor market conditions restricted the industry in size, technological improvement and areal spread. The buoyant market conditions of the 1940's and 1950's encouraged growth in the number of operations and dispersion of cutting operations into remote areas. At this time, shortages of labour, equipment and capital combined with an indefinite forest management policy promoted the development of a large number of small, undercapitalized operations. The growth of large-scale production units, diversification of production and areal concentration of conversion plants have been the responses of the industry in the 1960's. A number of external forces such as changes in provincial forest management policies, changing market demands and rising labour costs have encouraged these responses. This thesis presents an overview of the development of the forest industry, rather than concentrating upon the individual locative decision. Particular firms are used, however, to illustrate changes in structure and location which are characteristic of certain periods. Emphasis is also placed upon the role exogenous forces and traditional locative factors have played in the changes. Interviews with entrepreneurs in the area, and data from trade journals and government publications provide most of the information presented here. The changes in size and location of producing units within the forest industry of North Central British Columbia from 1909 to 1966 are outlined first, with particular reference to external influences and industry responses. Comparisons are made of the structure and spatial patterns of the industry in 1925, 1950 and 1966. An analysis of (a) the external forces, (b) the internal adjustments of the region and, (c) the resultant pattern of location, constitutes the major part of the study. A summary of these forces, predictions of the future pattern of development and an outline of the general findings of this examination conclude the thesis. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

This thesis studies the response of the residential construction industry to the growing market for residential renovation, and its ability and willingness to transfer operations into renovation activities. The industry includes firms specializing in land development, new house-building, speculative and contract renovation projects. The thesis is concerned with the inherent industry constraints in meeting housing demand. The increasing importance of residential renovation relative to new housing construction is examined. A review of the new residential and renovation sectors follows, comparing and contrasting the nature and characteristics of both sectors. It is found that small and medium-sized firms within the new residential construction sector are most able to enter into residential renovation activities. The thesis reveals that the industry has so far shown a small scale response to the potential market for residential renovation, and has been inhibited by a number of barriers to entry. These include rigidities in the institutional approach to the residential renovation construction process. Other barriers arise from the inherent differences between renovation and new construction activities. Proposals are made to facilitate a more effective and efficient renovation construction process. These should induce the industry to be more able and willing to adjust to the increased pace and scale of residential renovation activity expected in the future. In turn, the maintenance and rejuvenation of the existing housing stock will be facilitated in accordance with future housing demand. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

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