Canada and its major regions: Bouchette, Parkin, Rogers, Innis, Hutchison

Through their analyses and interpretations of Canada's major regions, selec ted significant authors from the early-19th to the mid-20th century provide a deeper understanding of Canada. Each author reveals the geographical cir cumstances and life of the country for the period in which he writes. Josep h Bouchette in the 1830s grapples with devising regional divisions in Briti sh North America in a mercantilist era and when parts of the continent were only dimly known; George R. Parkin and J.D. Rogers in the 1890s and 1910s depict Canadian regions in the process of being transformed in the decades when the CPR finally made it possible for Canada to function effectively ac ross an entire continent; Harold Innis in the 1920s links the origin of the CPR to its regional underpinnings, in the context of sectional power relat ionships; and Bruce Hutchison in the 1940s and 50s portrays the 'personalit y' of Canada's regions, and regional tensions through the lives and percept ions of inhabitants in the various sections. The thick slice of Canadian re gional writing represented by these authors shows that regions change profo undly, bur regional and cultural distinctiveness persists, and that section al rivalries have deep roots.