Introduction
Abandoned Montreal Cotton Co. buildings, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, c. 1975.
Michel Montpetit Collection.
The textile industry’s success in large part depended on external conditions. From the 1950s on, textile industry and the Montreal Cotton Co. had to surrender to a number of issues: The deregulation of tariffs initiated by the Mackenzie King government hurt the industry, and economic conditions in Quebec started to decline, as Toronto getting a larger part of the pie. The economic crises of the 1970s and 1980s triggered a de-industrialisation movement. Thereafter, many manufacturing industries were delocalised or shut down, and joblessness became rampant. Competition was aggressive and large traditional factories with extensive semi-specialized workforces lost ground to Asian newcomers.
The emergence of the Dominion Textile Co. (which had acquired the Montreal Cotton Co. in 1948) on the international market and its reengineering led to the dismantling of its empire. Mills were sold or demolished and replaced by a shopping mall. Salaberry-de-Valleyfield took a heavy blow; thousands of people lost their jobs, and part of their identity and history.
Interview with Monique Perreault and William Whitter
Video clip
Download the video (WebM format / 11.9 MB)
TRANSCRIPT
Monique Perreault: A heartbreak. It was a heritage, it's the city's life, not just ours, the city's life. If we hadn't had that, what would we have done?
We would have starved. We weren't all gardeners or farmers in Valleyfield.
Question: It really made a difference, it's what started...
Monique Perreault: You know, they demolished a little bit, they spared... It wasn't all at once, but you hurt inside everytime they took a bit more away...
William Whitter: On Dufferin Street, everything was built with stone, on five floors. I saw elderly people cry. People who had worked there.
Monique Perreault: The wrecking ball demolished walls, and when the crew stopped, people would go get blocks, crying. If there was a block that was less broken, they would fetch it crying and leave...
William Whitter: You would see the wrecking ball swing and... pow! It would crumble.
Monique Perreault: When they saved a good piece, people would leave with it.