The Post-War Period 227 
     
    
   
   
    
     A RURAL SOCIETY IN A STATE OF FLUX 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Second World War was a major factor in the changes that 
     
     took place in Canadian society. Even a small agricultural and rural 
     
     province like Prince Edward Island did not remain untouched by 
     
     these changes. However, the transformation was not as rapid as else- 
     
     where in the country, particularly in central Canada. 
     
    

    
     Industrialization brought on a wave of urbanization which affect- 
     
     ed young Islanders and youth throughout Canada. Like their ancestors 
     
     who had emigrated to the United States in the nineteenth century 
     
     and early twentieth century, the sons and daughters of small farmers 
     
     and poor fishermen moved away from the Island where only a few 
     
     badly paid jobs were available and made their way to the industrial 
     
     centres of Canada. 
     
    

    
     The Island could not keep pace with the economic and social 
     
     development taking place in the rest of the country mainly due toa 
     
     lack of financial resources. The majority of Island farmers had no 
     
     capital and were thus unable to expand and modernize their opera- 
     
     tions in order to compete in the national and international market- 
     
     place. Reduced to living below the poverty line on their own land, 
     
     thousands of small farmers were often forced to become mere wage- 
     
     earners’. 
     
    

    
     The educational system also reflected the poverty of the Island. 
     
     Of all Canadians, Islanders invested the least in their education’. As 
     
     a result, the level of education and literacy was considerably below 
     
     the national average. 
     
    

    
     During the 1940s and 1950s steps were taken to modernize the 
     
     province: the means of production began to be centralized and the 
     
     economy became more diversified. Electricity was extended to all the 
     
     smaller communities, roads were gradually paved, and radio, tele- 
     
     phone and eventually television made their way into most homes. 
     
     The consolidation of rural schools began in the early 1960s. All these 
     
     changes contributed to the greater well-being of Islanders and raised 
     
     their standard of living. Small communities which formed the basis 
     
     of traditional Island life began to lose their economic and cultural 
     
     independence, however, as a result of this modernization. 
     
    

    
     The Development Plan for Prince Edward Island, a joint federal- 
     
     provincial program, was set up in 1969. This was an agreement which