Matthew Bray.jpg
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Introducing this collection is a thought-provoking piece by Laurentian University's C.M. Wallace. In "Communities in the Northern Ontario Frontier," Wallace, an associate professor of history, challenges conventional interpretations of Northern Ontario as a region of fragile one-industry towns and cities. While acknowledging that many northern communities were at first resource-based, he argues that most are now much more complex than their origins would indicate. He suggests that if they were compared to communities in other parts of Canada, north and south, some surprising similarities might emerge. At the same time, each community merits a detailed study of its own individuality and uniqueness. Thus, he demands a more sophisticated look at Northern Ontario communities, one which emphasizes not only the impact of external influences, but also the effects of their idiosyncratic internal forces. Wallace raises important general questions that can be asked of each of the specialized studies to follow, enriching our appreciation of their particular subjects and highlighting their thematic unity. In many ways he poses a provocative challenge not just to contributors to this volume, but to all students of urban history.
