CONCLUSION
Although the end of the labour dispute between BESCO and Cape Breton's steelworkers and coal miners is depicted as a victory for the working class, it can be denied that this so-called victory came at significant cost for them. First-hand accounts of miners and demonstration participants recorded in documentary films reveal the hardships Cape Bretoners faced as they fought BESCO for four years. They saw themselves deprived of food, clothing, utilities, and power at some points, and some were victims of army and police violence. And yet through it all, as the narrative goes, they did not flinch from their beliefs. In fact, Fraser's song and other poetry during this period reinforces this conception of the mining communities' identity. Perhaps what makes it difficult to measure the gains and losses of the strikes is that it's not exactly clear what the miners were expecting from their resistance, other than earning a decent living wage. Some historians argue that their ultimate goal was the public ownership of industry and resources, one that would not be achieved in their lifetime. Although in the documentary films, one gets the sense that they understood the exploitation inherent in capitalism, they did not voice a desire for its complete upheaval. I believe that the strikes were worthwhile in terms of the national and international attention they drew to mining work conditions, the question of fair wages, and workers' rights in general. These strikes were making headlines not only in Canada, but in the US as well. Through their hardened resistance, Cape Breton miners forced the federal and provincial governments to recognize them as persons and not just employees. Indeed this recognition of the miners' rights to freedom and to a decent living wage seems to have been the most significant gains mentioned by the surviving miners interviewed for the documentary films. Even Woodsworth, the member of Parliament for the labour party, underlined the dignity and hard work of the Cape Bretoners during this period; in essence, he was saying that they were worthy of Canadians' respect. Nevertheless, these gains were offset by the tragic loss of human life, which is readily acknowledged in most of the materials I studied. While a few historians conclude the story of the strikes in 1925 on a victorious note, when BESCO was forced to concede, I extended my research further and considered whether the life of the miners had really improved months later. I discovered that in 1926 the miners continued to suffer hardships as market demand for coal decreased; their wage may have been acceptable, but they still lacked control of their working conditions. Therefore, perhaps the miners' gains were of a more immaterial nature than strictly material. The Cape Breton miners were able to prove to themselves and the rest of Canada that they could stand up to their oppressors and get their fair share. But are gains such as these enduring ones? For, it would seem that though contemporary Cape Bretoners consider the strikes and the coal industry in general as an important part of their local history, they don't share the same fervour that their parents and grandparents did concerning workers' rights.