Until very recently, the Halifax skyline was dominated by the Moir's factory, pictured here. One of several small family bakeries serving Halifax at mid-century, it outstripped its competitors by acquiring contracts to supply bread to the Halifax Citadel garrison and ship's biscuits to the Royal Navy. With that boost, Moir's was able to take advantage of opportunities provided by the National Policy's encouragement of the sugar refining and confectionary industries. Towards the end of the nineteenth century it diversified to become one of the premier confectionaries in all of Canada, a position it still holds.
Just as Moir's was expanding, other Halifax bakers, most of them employing only a few apprentices and journeymen moved to regulate their work practices. Traditionally bakers worked from as early as two in the morning to well past midday, but their wages were seldom equivalent to those earned by other workers of comparable skill. At Moir's all attempts at negotiating better hours or wages, however informal, were resisted. Its candy factory employed mostly young women, a group notoriously difficult to organize in any industry. Moir's fierce tradition of union busting typified the attitude of Halifax's businessmen, which made the Nova Scotia capital one of the weakest labour centres in the region.
