The Cape Breton Development Corporation, or DEVCO, is a Canadian federal government Crown corporation. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... In Commonwealth countries a Crown corporation is a state-controlled company or enterprise (a public corporation). ...

DEVCO was organized primarily into two divisions: a community economic development organization, and the coal division.

From March 30, 1968 until November 23, 2001, DEVCO's coal division operated Canada's largest underground coal mines, located in eastern Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia. Following decommissioning of its mines, DEVCO sold all non-mining surface assets to the private sector on December 18, 2001, including the Devco Railway and is presently remediating its mine sites. is the 89th day of the year (90th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the mining of coal. ... Cape Breton County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton Island. ... Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit(Latin) One defends and the other conquers Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Regional Municipality Official languages English, Canadian Gaelic Government - Lieutenant-Governor Mayann E. Francis - Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 11 - Senate seats 10 Confederation July 1, 1867... is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Devco Railway (DVR) ran from Sydney,NS in Cape Breton to Glace Bay,NS also on Cape Breton. ...

Creation of DEVCO

In 1965, the Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation, or DOSCO (then a subsidiary of the Hawker-Siddley Group) announced that its mines had only 15 years of production left and concluded that the expense of opening new underground mines in the Sydney Coal Field would be too expensive. The company made its intentions clear that it would be exiting the coal mining business within months. Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... The Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation (also DOSCO) was a Canadian coal mining and steel manufacturing company. ...

In response to a vast public outcry in industrial Cape Breton County, the Minority government of Prime Minister Lester Pearson announced J.R. Donald would head a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Cape Breton coal industry, with hearings held in 1965 and 1966. The Donald Commission recommended that a federal Crown corporation be established to acquire and manage DOSCO's coal operations, with the aim being to slowly wean the Sydney area economy off the coal industry. For minority governments in general, see dominant minority. ... The Right Honourable Lester Bowles Mike Pearson (April 23, 1897 - December 27, 1972) was the fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada from April 22, 1963, to April 20, 1968, and also a 1957 Nobel Laureate. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... In Commonwealth countries a Crown corporation is a state-controlled company or enterprise (a public corporation). ...

"Future planning should be based on the assumption that the Sydney mines will not operate beyond 1981."

On July 7, 1967 the Cape Breton Development Corporation, or DEVCO, was established to operate the mines in the interim, while phasing them out throughout the 1970s and, at the same time, develop new economic opportunities for the surrounding communities. On March 30, 1968 DEVCO expropriated DOSCO's coal mines and the Sydney and Louisburg Railway, settling for a payment of $12 million. At the same time, the Government of Nova Scotia took over the operation of DOSCO's integrated steel mill in Sydney, renaming the operation Sydney Steel Corporation, or SYSCO. is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... is the 89th day of the year (90th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... In law, eminent domain is the power of the state to appropriate private property for its own use without the owners consent. ... The Sydney & Louisburg Railway (S&L) is a historic Canadian railway. ... Steel Mill was one of Bruce Springsteens early bands and performed regularly on the Jersey Shore, in Virginia, and also in California from 1969 till January 1971. ... Sydney Steel Corporation (SYSCO) is a Crown corporation in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. ...

Early operation, planning for retraction

DEVCO had several operating divisions, including its Coal Division, as well as economic development divisions, intended to help the Industrial Cape Breton area diversify its economy from an over-reliance on the coal and steel industries.

Initially, DEVCO focused on operating the coal mines throughout the Sydney Coal Field that it had inherited from DOSCO, while attempting to invest in other intiatives such as establishing a post-secondary education institution in the area (what would become the University College of Cape Breton, now Cape Breton University), tourism developments, industrial parks for non-coal/steel related manufacturing industries, and investing in small area businesses and community infrastructure projects to help unemployed coal miners and steel workers who had been laid off during the 1960s drawdown in production. Cape Breton University (CBU), formerly the University College of Cape Breton (UCCB), is a Canadian university in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, near Sydney, Nova Scotia. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969. ...

One of DEVCO's first tourism-related developments in the early 1970s was the Cape Breton Steam Railway, a joint project with the Sydney and Louisburg Railway Historical Society, which saw unused Devco Railway tracks between Glace Bay and Louisbourg used for operating a tourist railway, with coal-powered steam locomotives. The project ran until it proved to be uneconomic to operate by the late 1970s. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... The Devco Railway (DVR) ran from Sydney,NS in Cape Breton to Glace Bay,NS also on Cape Breton. ... Glace Bay (2001 pop. ... Louisbourg, on Cape Breton Island. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ...

Overall, until 1973, DEVCO was more-or-less focused on continuing the operation of its former-DOSCO mines and railway, while providing new economic growth for the region. For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ...

Expansion, not retraction

The October 1973 Yom Kippur War and the ensuing 1973 oil crisis led the federal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to re-examine all Canadian energy production, including the nationalization of Alberta oil, as well as an expansion of DEVCO coal production, reversing the recommendation of the 1966 Donald Commission to phase out production and diversify the Sydney area economy. The Trudeau government sought to use its ownership of DEVCO to reverse Nova Scotia's reliance on the importation of foreign oil for generating electricity; approximately 70% of the province's electricity was generated by foreign oil by the late 1970s. For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... Combatants  Israel  Egypt,  Syria,  Iraq Commanders Moshe Dayan, David Elazar, Ariel Sharon, Shmuel Gonen, Benjamin Peled, Israel Tal, Rehavam Zeevi, Aharon Yariv, Yitzhak Hofi, Rafael Eitan, Abraham Adan, Yanush Ben Gal Saad El Shazly, Ahmad Ismail Ali, Hosni Mubarak, Mohammed Aly Fahmy, Anwar Sadat, Abdel Ghani el-Gammasy, Abdul Munim... The 1973 oil crisis began in earnest on October 17, 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC, consisting of the Arab members of OPEC plus Egypt and Syria) announced, as a result of the ongoing Yom Kippur War, that they would no longer ship petroleum... “Trudeau” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Alberta (disambiguation). ... Electricity (from New Latin Ä“lectricus, amberlike) is a general term for a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ...

New mines were built and opened near New Waterford (Phalen and Lingan collieries) and on Boularderie Island (Prince colliery) starting in around 1972-1975. Devco Railway built a spur to serve the adjacent Phalen and Lingan mines, extending the line to serve Nova Scotia Power Incorporated's Lingan Generating Station which opened November 1, 1979. Boularderie Island (pronounced boo-lahr-duh-ree or boo-lahr-dree) is an island separating the Cabot Strait from Bras dOr Lake on the eastern coast of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nova Scotia Power Incorporated is a power generating and delivery company in Nova Scotia. ... is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ...

During the early 1980s, the Devco Railway retired its diesels locomotives inherited from the Sydney and Louisburg Railway, which had purchased them second-hand during the early 1960s, and purchased a fleet of new diesel locomotives and coal hoppers, as well as building new locomotive shops at Victoria Junction, between Sydney and Glace Bay, and shut down the Glace Bay roundhouse and shops. The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... The Sydney & Louisburg Railway (S&L) is a historic Canadian railway. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969. ...

DEVCO also shut down a coal wash plant at Sydney Mines and built a large coal preparation and wash plant at Victoria Junction in its place, as well as new international shipping piers on Sydney Harbour, replacing the antiquated export piers inherited from DOSCO. With federal government financing, DEVCO was in expansion mode and with the high international prices for coal, sought to produce more Cape Breton coal for export than ever before.

Production problems and mine closures

By the late 1980s, production problems at DEVCO saw the last of the older mines inherited from DOSCO shut down, with production concentrated at Lingan, Phalen and Prince; the latter not receiving any rail service. The Point Aconi Generating Station was built by Nova Scotia Power Incorporated to receive coal from the Prince colliery directly by conveyor belt, however the Lingan and Phalen mines still hauled coal to the Victoria Junction preparation plant and then to the Lingan Generating Station. The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ...

The SYSCO steel mill stopped using DEVCO coal to produce coke as a fuel for its blast furnaces in the mid-1980s. By the late 1980s, SYSCO had modernized by changing to an electric-arc process, smelting recycled metal. Coke Coke is a solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ...

Problems with flooding and roof-falls at the Lingan mine saw production cease in 1992, just months short of the colliery's 20-year design limit. The Phalen mine continued to be the only source of online traffic for the Devco Railway, however subsequent flooding and roof-falls at Phalen caused ever increasing production costs at a time of fiscal restraint by the federal government. Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ...

Layoffs and selling of assets

Faced with rising subsidies for DEVCO, the federal government announced it was getting out of the coal industry in January 1999 by mining out the rest of Phalen by the end of the year and attempting to sell the Prince colliery. A subsidy is generally a monetary grant given by government in support of an activity regarded as being in the public interest. ... This article is about the year. ...

In September 1999, Phalen colliery closed for good, with 400 employees laid off and the only on-line traffic source for the Devco Railway severed. The Prince colliery continued with production, however coal was trucked from the mine to the Victoria Junction preparation plant, from which it was then taken by rail to the Lingan Generating Station. Devco Railway also began to be used for importing some coal from locations in the United States and South America, with the international shipping piers beginning to be used in the reverse of their intended design. South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

On November 23, 2001, Prince colliery closed for good, after the federal government failed to entice any private sector investors to purchase the mine. DEVCO was out of the coal mining business, however for a period of approximately 1 month, it was in the coal importation business. The federal government moved swiftly to sell off assets, transferring the mine properties and mineral rights back to the provincial Department of Natural Resources. DEVCO subsequently decommissioned the Victoria Junction coal wash plant and began to immediately prepare remediation of the mine sites. is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ...

On December 18, 2001 DEVCO sold all surface assets, including the international shipping piers, railway track, railway rights-of-way, locomotives and rolling stock, and a coal storage facility and locomotive shops at Victoria Junction to 510845 New Brunswick Incorporated, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emera Inc., the holding company which owns Nova Scotia Power Incorporated (Nova Scotia Power Corporation having been privatized in 1992). is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Emera Inc. ... Nova Scotia Power Incorporated is a power generating and delivery company in Nova Scotia. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ...

Emera subsequently contracted the operation of its newly-acquired DEVCO surface assets to Logistec Corporation. Logistec sub-contracted operation of the railway to the Société des chemins de fer du Québec, a Quebec-based railway holding company and short-line operating company. The new railway was called Sydney Coal Railway, although ownership of the track and other assets remains with Emera's subsidiary, 510845 New Brunswick Inc. Logistec operates the international piers, which handles coal imports from the United States and South America, while Sydney Coal Railway hauls the coal to the storage facility at Victoria Junction before transporting it to NSP's Lingan Generating Station. The Société des chemins de fer du Québec (SCFQ), or Quebec Railway Corporation in English, is a Canadian railway holding company which owns several short line railways in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. ... The Sydney Coal Railway is a Canadian shortline railway operating in the eastern part of Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia. ...