Talk:Experimental Station Suffield

Expropriation - Provincial or Federal

The common view is that the Suffield Block was expropriated by the Federal Government (or the Dominion Government) in 1941. However, on page 3 of "Proving Ground: Alberta's Role in U.S. Health Policy for Soldiers and School Children at Mid-Twentieth Century" by Susan L. Smith and Stephen Mawdsley (http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/iusps2/pdfs/AIAS_Smith_07Apr2009.pdf), the following is stated:

The Canadian and British governments jointly financed the station and the province leased the 2600 square kilometers of land for one dollar per year for ninety-nine years.

The following is stated in "The Science of War, Canadian Scientists and Allied Military Technology During the Second World War" by Donald H. Avery (see Google Books)

The Alberta government, for its part, agreed to lease the 700,000-acre site to Ottawa for ninety-nine years at a cost of one dollar per year.

And, to complete the picture, the following passage can be found in Alberta Dept. of Education. Annual report. v.42nd 1947 (http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/9535.html) on page 109:

War Surplus Buildings and Equipment.
The Provincial Government took over a large number of army and air force camps and buildings from the Dominion Government (War Assets Corporation) in exchange for the British Block at Suffield. The buildings have been acquired by the Department of Public Works and released to other Departments and to municipal and school authorities in order of priority; buildings not removed intact have been demolished for building materials to be made available in the same order.

Dubious20 (talk) 04:41, 21 May 2009 (UTC)