Editing Staples thesis (section)

==Thesis==
The thesis explains Canadian economic development as a lateral, east-west conception of trade. Innis argued that Canada developed as it did because of the nature of its staple [[Commodity|commodities]]: raw materials, such as fish, fur, lumber, agricultural products and minerals, that were exported to Britain and the West Indies. This trading link cemented Canada's cultural links to Britain. The search for and exploitation of these staples led to the creation of institutions that defined the political culture of the nation and its regions.

Innis argues that different staples led to the emergence of regional economies (and societies) within Canada. For instance, the staple commodity in [[Atlantic Canada]] was [[cod]]. This industry was very decentralized, but also very co-operative. In western Canada the central staple was [[wheat]]. Wheat farming was a very independent venture, which led to a history of distrust of government and corporations in that part of the country. (Also important, however, were the shocks caused by volatility in the market for wheat and by the weather itself on the growing season.) In [[Central Canada]], the main staple was fur, and the [[fur trade]] dominated the economy for many years. This fur trade was controlled by large firms, such as the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] and thus produced the much more centralized, business-oriented society that today characterizes [[Montreal]] and [[Toronto]].

Innis depicted the relationship between regions of Canada as one of "heartland" to "hinterland": [[Core-periphery|The periphery]], or hinterland, is dominated by the core, or heartland. Because the heartland was dependent upon the search for and accumulation of staples (which were located in the hinterland) to perpetuate the economy, it sought to gain economic and political power by exploiting the hinterland.<ref>[http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/innis-mcluhan/030003-1020-e.html "Staples Theory"] in ''Old Messengers, New Media: The Legacy of Innis and McLuhan'', from [[Library and Archives Canada]]</ref>

To Innis, it was the fur trade that created the geographical boundaries of Canada. The early links between the Canadian interior and eastern ports led to Canadian unity and its distinctiveness from the [[United States]]. However, the importance of fur as a staple product also resulted in the northern half of the continent remaining dependent on Britain for trade and thus essentially British for so much of its history.