Changing landscapes of Atlantic Canada/Les nouveaux paysages des provinces atlantiques canadiennes

Abstract

Canada is a nation of whose sizes, economics, environments, and cultures vary. There are four provinces in Atlantic Canada; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the smallest region in Canada (covering only 5.4% of the total land area) and, with the exception of the Territorial North, it has the smallest population (2.4 million in 2001, or 7.6% of Canada's total population) (Statistics Canada 2002). The present issue of The Canadian Geographer provides examples of physical, urban, and cultural landscape changes in all four of the Atlantic provinces. The tie that binds the five papers together in this issue is locational, in addition to the common theme of spatial and temporal change. The special theme of this issue is Changing Landscapes of Atlantic Canada. All five papers involve change in at least one landscape, place, or space in the Atlantic provinces. There are a wide range of topics and a diversity of places and spaces in this issue. Geographical examples of physical, urban, and cultural landscapes are all investigated. Before an overview of the papers is presented, a brief commentary on the meanings and connection of landscape changes in Atlantic Canada will follow. As Robinson (1983, 13) noted, a study of Canada's ... geographical patterns shows similarities and differences in environments, peoples, and economics from place to place. The nation is regionalized, or differentiated, based on political boundaries, physical features, and some feeling of consciousness. Sharing of a common space is a critical factor in this spatial differentiation for it leads to a sense of place--the cornerstone of regional geography (Bone 2002). And yet, exist only in the minds of the persons who define, and accept, the criteria and characteristics of the region. Despite this, ... many people have a regional consciousness which intuitively tells them that their local area differs in certain distinctive characteristics from those of nearby or far-off regions (Robinson 1983, 14). Atlantic Canada has variations across the provinces in climate, soils and vegetation, and there is a diverse resource base, with myriad scales of operations. Perhaps speaking of Atlantic Canada as a whole belies the geographic differences among its four provinces (Bone 2002). The provinces are politically divided, ethnically diverse, and differentiated by income, employment, experience, tradition, and religion (McCann 1987, 176). People of this region form a markedly plural society (ibid., 176). Despite this, Atlantic Canada remains united by a rich sense of place that has perhaps grown out of the region's history and geographic location. The sea, especially, has played a strong, even dominant, role in the lives of Atlantic Canadians. The sea, it can be argued, has integrated the region commercially, economically, and culturally in a way the political or physical boundaries might not have (ibid., 176). In terms of a sense of place, the sea has certainly exerted a profound influence on Maritimers who live along its coastline (Warkentin 2000; Bone 2002). In addition to the theme of Atlantic Canada, change is common to the group of five papers. Regions, landscapes, places and space are not static, and patterns are not permanent. As one studies a region, it is challenging to predict the future and understand the trends of the past. Changes were especially rapid in the 20th century, and a knowledge of the forces of change, either natural or anthropogenic, is critical to an eventual understanding of the patterns we will be witnessing in the 21st century. The first part of the issue includes two papers on coastal geomorphology. Giles' paper on historical (1784-1994) coastline changes along a stretch of coast in eastern Prince Edward Island details the impacts of sea-level rise. Giles notes that rising sea level is occurring throughout the Atlantic provinces, resulting in coastline alteration in Prince Edward Island and elsewhere throughout the region. …