s, workers compensation, long-term liabilities, and decommissioning of the mines. Finally in January of 1998 the federal government announced that it was privatizing Devco and quitting the coal industry it had supported since 1967. In 2000 Devco was down to one working coal mine which Ottawa planned to sell along with the rest of its coal assets by the end of the year. However there is no guarantee that a private company will emerge to take over operation of the Prince mine (Cameron, 1999).The collapse of any regions major industry will have a serious impact on the population. Regional net migration is affected by Push/Pull factors. Push factors are those that cause people to leave an area. In the case of Nova Scotia the major push factor is a lack of jobs available due to the collapse of the coal mining industry and the recent moratorium placed on the cod fishing industry. Things have gotten so bad that a 12 dollar an hour job in the west has been sufficient to convince some people to leave the province (Daily Commercial News, 2000). Pull factors are those that attract people to a particular region. Recently the trend is a general migration westward towards the booming economies of Ontario, and British Columbia (See Fig. 5). This creates a more favourable economic climate for both regions as one gets relief for it's social assistance programs and the other gets much needed labour. ProvinceTotal In-MigrantsTotal Out-MigrantsNet MigrationNewfoundland47798603-3824P.E.I.14381233+205Nova Scotia82609340-1080New Brunswick64847215-731Quebec1229519180-6885Ontario4171937660+4059Manitoba1333911267+2072Saskatchewan1109313309-2216Alberta2941229647-235British Columbia3717226510+10662Fig. 5 Interprovincial migration January-June 1995. Source: Western Report Nov. 27 1995.The Future of the Nova Scotia Coal IndustryIf the OPEC years have taught us anything its that our reliance on foreign oil can leave us vulnerable to fuel shortages. Shor...
