"Eat the Okanagan into Prosperity"

The Relationships of the Okanagan and the Coast, 1858-1941

Abstract

Like Canada as a whole, British Columbia has a metropolitan/hinterland duality with its regions being separated by geography and linked by economies. The metropolises were, consecutively, Victoria and Vancouver; the hinterland, in this case, the Okanagan Valley. Mainly through the lenses of boards of trade and newspapers, the early economic histories of the main coastal cities and the major Okanagan centres reveal a symbiotic relationship. As well as ordinary commercial dealings, Vancouver’s Board of Trade endeavoured to assist Okanagan growers market their fruit by organizing selling agencies and promoting its sale by such means as Apple Weeks. In return, the British Columbia Products Bureau of the Vancouver Board encouraged Okanagan consumers to buy provincially made products through annual BC Products Weeks. In sum, despite some problems the coastal and Okanagan business communities interacted to promote trade for their mutual benefit.