University of Toronto Press In the Power of the Government: The Rise and Fall of Newsprint in Ontario, 1894-1932

For forty years, historians have argued that early twentieth-century provincial governments in Canada were easily manipulated by the industrialists who developed Canada's natural resources, such as pulpwood, water power, and minerals. With In the Power of the Government, Mark Kuhlberg uses the case of the Ontario pulp and paper industry to challenge that interpretation of Canadian provincial politics. Examining the relationship between the corporations which ran the province's pulp and paper mills and the politicians at Queen's Park, Kuhlberg concludes that the Ontario government frequently rebuffed the demands of the industrialists who wanted to tap Ontario's spruce timber and hydro-electric potential. A sophisticated empirical challenge to the orthodox literature on this issue, In the Power of the Government will be essential reading for historians and political scientists interested in the history of Canadian industrial development. Review 'The archival research undertaken by Kuhlberg is most impressive.... His understanding of forest species and the ecosystems of northern Ontario accents his work with insights that fuse business history with environmental history writing.' - Brad Cross - Canadian Historical Review vol 98:02:2017 'A fascinating survey of the management of timber resources in Ontario in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.' - Alex Nalbach - Business History Review vol 90:01:2016 'The book stands out for the originality of its argument and the truly prodigious amount of research that informs it.' - Canadian Historical Society Bulletin vol 42:02:2016 About the Author Mark Kuhlberg is an associate professor in the Department of History at Laurentian University.