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A double review with Cities of Oil: Municipalities and Petroleum Manufacturing in Southern Ontario, 1860–1960
by Timothy W. Cobban
University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 2013
182 pp., illus., $65 hardcover

As energy issues dominate today’s headlines, two titles published over the past year provide context and perspective about the oil industry in Canada.

The first, Petropolitics, co-authored by University of Calgary economists Alan MacFayden and the late G. Campbell Watkins, is a thorough analysis of the evolution and impact of the petroleum industry in Alberta from a public-policy and economic perspective. This is a heavy read intended for business and economics academics, but it will also appeal to those familiar with the industry and those who are interested in a closer study of it.

The book is organized into sections that help to break it down for the rest of us. The first chapter provides a broad industry overview, and subsequent chapters delve intoareas such as crude oil, the oil sands, the National Energy Program, pro-rationing, pricing and government regulation, and, finally, the economic impact within Alberta and the global oil industry. Graphs, charts, and other data are included in what can best be described as the most comprehensive reference guide to the Alberta petroleum industry available in print.

In contrast, Timothy Cobban’s Cities of Oil chronicles the role of municipalities in the evolution and development of the petroleum industry in Ontario. Although equally well-researched, Cobban’s account is much more concise. He focuses on delivering a narrative of the history and politics behind the sector’s regional growth, which began in the 1860s, long before the discoveries in Western Canada.

Both books explore the consequences of government investment in the sector — intended and otherwise — and draw conclusions about the significance of public policy and government intervention in shaping industrial growth in Canada.