Industrial Cape Breton has
changed severely in the last
decade: municipal units were
amalgamated into the new Cape
Breton Regional Municipality,
the steel plant closed in
1999, and the coal mines were
shut down in 2000.
Consequently, the social and
cultural lives of Cape

Bretoners were forever
changed.
   Whitney Pier, once a
bustling steel district with
its own downtown core, is now
one of many communities
struggling to stay alive.
Referred to as "the heart of
the city's working class
community," Whitney Pier

historically has faced the
challenges of domineering
industrialists, unsympathetic
governments, and more
recently, industrial
pollution. Yet, its residents
continue to persevere, even
in the face of an aging
population and staggering
outmigration.

   As a testament to their
spirit and pride of place,
the people of Whitney Pier
have founded a community
museum. The museum is
intended to forever
memorialize the struggles,
pains and many joys of living
in a racially and ethnically
diverse working class