Saving Ontario's Niagara Escarpment: The Quarries, the Politics and the Myth of the Dufferin Gap, 1950-1970

Abstract

The preservation of the Niagara escarpment has long been a matter of concern for the people of Ontario. This study traces the rise of the movement to save this iconic landform in the county of Halton during the 1960s. Beginning with a natural history of this section of the escarpment located to the west of the City of Toronto, this study examines the development of the large-scale crushed rock quarrying industry on the escarpment, the emergence of local demands to curb this industry’s blasting practices and the shift of the campaign to the provincial level. It ends in 1970, with the implementation of the first provincial legislation to regulate the extraction of industrial minerals on the Niagara escarpment. The significance of the research lies primarily in its re-interpretation of the standard account put forth by Ontario scholars and others, who have consistently emphasized the actions of urban-based environmental groups in this history. By focusing instead on the traditional rural populations and their struggles with the major quarry operators, this study underscores the importance of the small rural landowner in shaping political consciousness on the Niagara escarpment during this foundational chapter of its protective history. Next, by offering the first comprehensive account of the series of events leading to the passage of this legislation, this dissertation reveals how both the local and environmental actors were side-lined by this industry and its supporters within government, who then shaped this legislation to suit their special interests. Lastly, while most mining histories in Canada deal with hinterland case studies where private property regimes are practically non-existent, this research makes an important contribution to our understanding of extractive histories in the more densely populated areas of the country, where property ownership is the main form of land tenure.