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Controversy

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Before the 1970s, Harkin was viewed as a visionary conservationist and creator of Canada’s national park system. Since then, many critiques of Harkin have cast him in a darker light. When Harkin was appointed National Parks Branch Commissioner in 1911, he had to juggle the twin policy of advocating conservatism while encouraging tourism to the parks, which brought forth controversy to Harkin’s role as commissioner.[1] When Harkin accepted the job, he admitted that he knew little about parks in general or what was expected of him in his role as commissioner. Many biographers have written about Harkin’s work, but his life is based off of a very thin collection of sources, leading to skepticism about his duty and achievements as commissioner.[2] Harkin’s personal archival papers say little about his involvement with the national parks; they focus almost entirely on his notes and correspondence on Vilhjalmur Stefansson’s expedition to the Arctic in 1921.[3] The limited information about Harkin’s life has led biographers to create several sizable assumptions about him, one being that everything wrote by Harkin is credited to him alone.[4] Parks Branch papers show that what is attributed to Harkin was actually first drafted by others, especially his assistant, F.H.H. Williamson.[5] Harkin also adapted many of his policies from the American National Park Service, because of the familiarity of geographic location and goal at improving the development of the parks through tourism.[6]

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1922 Wood Buffalo National Park

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One of the first controversies that Harkin was involved in was the Parks Branch’s first attempt to create a wood bison sanctuary. The disagreement proved to create tensions within the federal government and also started the theory that local Indigenous peoples were to blame for the decrease in the population of buffalo.[7] The tension between the Indian Affairs Department and wildlife conservationists was very evident at the National Conference on Conservation of Game, Fur-Bearing Animals, and other Wild Life held in February 1919.[8] The beginning of the conference began with Arthur Meighen, then Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, emphasizing the complete dependence that the northern Native people have on wildlife, and how prohibiting the Aboriginal peoples from hunting buffalo would greatly and negatively affect their livelihood. Harkin stated his own views and discussed how wildlife preserves prohibiting Indigenous peoples from hunting was crucial for conservation. He argued that Indigenous peoples should respect this, since they have wholesome respect for park boundaries.[9] Wood Buffalo National Park was created in 1922 to help preserve the five hundred buffalo that were found south of the Great Slave Lake in Northern Alberta.[10] Indigenous groups that lived in the area protested the creation of the Wood Buffalo National Park up until its establishment and continued after in hopes of gaining back their sovereignty and their right to hunt on their traditional territories.[11] The creation of the park led to a dramatic increase of law enforcement and administrative personnel on Indigenous lands, which allowed the federal government to administer a system of wildlife regulations that would include punishments of fines, jail terms, and hard labor if Indigenous persons were to stray from the law.[12]

Cheap Labour

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The development of parks across Canada was only possible because the men were paid below market wage and had no other job opportunities. Thousands of men worked for the Parks Department from 1914 to 1945 and the department acquired these men from prisoners of both world wars and relief workers during the Great Depression. [13] James Harkin was very happy with his new work force because he was able to pay them twenty-five cents a day for pay, while the daily wage in an isolated camp was supposed to be two dollars.[14] There was a protest at the Yoho Park, when the men refused to work because market wages had increased to twelve dollars a day, while they were still being paid twenty-five cents. The situation started to get out of Harkin's control and he asked the Department of Defense to take over, but the men began to dig their way out of the park and were caught before they were able to escape and eventually the camp was closed and the men were released.[15] In 1924, the mine at Brule in Jasper National Park was closed and Alberta asked Ottawa for aide to go towards their newly unemployed. Harkin responded to the problem by telling the park superintendent to provide groceries if conditions were desperate, but not cash, because he doesn’t want to encourage the people to have further demands.[16] The Jasper Parks superintendent in 1929 was desperate for financial support and asked Harkin for $20,000 to go towards work-for-relief projects, but Harkin refused. The declining conditions in Jasper presaged the stock market crash in 1929 as well crops began to fail, and by 1933 one fifth of the work force was unemployed and fifteen percent of Canadians were on relief.[17] Harkin enforced the six day work week because he felt men were more compliant when they were occupied, and he also striped his workers of civil liberties such as putting restrictions upon alcohol consumption. In order for Harkin to gain control of the protests, he enforced a law that anyone on strike was fired and collective organizations were forbidden.[18]


References

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  1. ^ MacEachern, Alan (2001). Natural Selections: National Parks in Atlantic Canada, 1935-1970. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 7.
  2. ^ MacEachern, Alan (2001). Natural Selections: National Parks in Atlantic Canada, 1935-1970. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 26.
  3. ^ MacEachern, Alan (2001). Natural Selections: National Parks in Atlantic Canada, 1935-1970. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 27.
  4. ^ MacEachern, Alan (2001). Natural Selections: National Parks in Atlantic Canada, 1935-1970. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 28.
  5. ^ MacEachern, Alan (2001). Natural Selections: National Parks in Atlantic Canada, 1935-1970. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 29.
  6. ^ MacEachern, Alan (2001). Natural Selections: National Parks in Atlantic Canada, 1935-1970. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 30.
  7. ^ Sandlos, John (2007). Hunters at the Margin: Native People and Wildlife Conservation in the Northwest Territories. Vancouver: UBC Press. p. 39.
  8. ^ Sandlos, John (2007). Hunters at the Margin: Native People and Wildlife Conservation in the Northwest Territories. Vancouver: UBC Press. p. 39.
  9. ^ Sandlos, John (2007). Hunters at the Margin: Native People and Wildlife Conservation in the Northwest Territories. Vancouver: UBC Press. p. 40.
  10. ^ Sandlos, John (2007). Hunters at the Margin: Native People and Wildlife Conservation in the Northwest Territories. Vancouver: UBC Press. p. 42.
  11. ^ Sandlos, John (2007). Hunters at the Margin: Native People and Wildlife Conservation in the Northwest Territories. Vancouver: UBC Press. p. 24.
  12. ^ Sandlos, John (2007). Hunters at the Margin: Native People and Wildlife Conservation in the Northwest Territorie. Vancouver: UBC Press. p. 45.
  13. ^ Bella, Leslie (1987). Parks for Profit. Montreal: Harvest House. p. 83.
  14. ^ Bella, Leslie (1987). Parks for Profit. Montreal: Harvest House. p. 84.
  15. ^ Bella, Leslie (1987). Parks for Profit. Montreal: Harvest House. p. 85.
  16. ^ Bella, Leslie (1987). Parks for Profit. Vancouver: Harvest House. p. 86.
  17. ^ Bella, Leslie (1987). Parks for Profit. Montreal: Harvest House. p. 86.
  18. ^ Bella, Leslie (1987). Parks for Profit. Montreal: Harvest House. p. 90.


my potential part for the lead

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Harkin was viewed as a visionary conservationist and creator of Canada’s National Park’s system before the 1970s, but since then many critiques of Harkin have surfaced casting him in an unfavorable light. Harkin’s lack of knowledge of his duties as commissioner along with his desire to employ men under the market minimum wage led him to many controversies. The creation of the Wood Buffalo National Park sparked huge debate with local Indigenous groups and the rippling effects of the debate are still being dealt with today.

Team Edits:
Hey Charlotte your lead looks good take a look at mine and see if you can merge the two! Cholt.ubc (talk) 00:14, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

Hi, I looked through your sections, and it looks good. It is good that there is no overlapping of our sections and you focused on the controversies, I didn't talk about the controversy of the Wood Buffalo National Park, so that is good! Tinah123 (talk) 03:35, 3 April 2012 (UTC)


Outline

  • Early Life (Chris)
  • Political Career (Chris)
  • Philosophy (Lauren)
  • Achievements

1 Commercial - tourism (Allison)

2 Wildlife conservation (Tina)

3 Other (i.e. signs that Chris mentioned and other misc achievements)

  • Controversy/Tension (Charlotte)
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