was the great pioneer of his generation in studying 
the fur trade and the cod fisheries and the 
circulation within Canada, looking very closely at 
the kinds of staples that made this country what it 
was. Rewriting history, not from a European 
perspective this time but from a Canadian-centred 
perspective. There’s no doubt about that. In Innis’ 
work there’s a direct connection between that 
early work on the circulation of staples through 
transportation, let’s remember, because these are 
things that have to circulate, and what he arrives 
at later—which is communications—which is where 
you don’t necessarily have things circulating 
anymore. McLuhan’s argument about Innis was