By Doug Draper
Canada’s Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff struck a positive chord during his visit to Niagara, Ontario this late July with a promise to see the region’s Welland Canal corridors, including the surviving remnants of the first canals dating back to the early 1800s, designated a heritage and/or national historical site if he is elected prime minister.
Canada's Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff (second from right), joins Niagara, Ontario residents on tour of remnants of first Welland Canal locks in St. Catharines, Ontario area. Photo courtesy of The Welland Canal Advocate.
That sounds fabulous. But the key word in that promise is “if” he gets elected the next PM, and given his standing in national polls these days, that remains an uncertainty.
What should not remain uncertain – regardless of what party is running this country – is a national designation for a Welland Canal system that has done as much to open Canada to its west and build the country’s economy as any other infrastructure, including trans-Canada rail and highway, that has been built to date.
Members of The Welland Canals Advocate, an area group with a mission to promote the history of the canals, and protect and preserve what is left of the first canals built under the leadership of William Hamilton Merritt, took Ignatieff on a short tour of earlier canal sites before he hosted a Town Hall meeting in St. Catharines this July 30.
The old canal remnants the Liberal leader viewed are tangled up in brush and could certainly use some tender loving care.
In other words, we on this side of the border should be taking a cue from governments and volunteer groups on the American side and be working to enhance and showcase these historic structures just as they are doing with the old Erie Canal – an equally important marine channel in the history of growing the prosperity of that country. We welcome your comments on this and other subjects posted on this site.
(Visit Niagara At Large at http://www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to our greater binational Niagara region.)
Niagara At Large 
I used to live in Maryland there was a canal that fell in disuse the C&O canal from Washington DC to Western Maryland, a group was formed a none profit group, now whole sections are used for boating fishing and other recreational purposes this canal runs alongside the Potomac River.it’s been 40 years of hard work but what a treasure this project has turned into. a well known Senator who has since passed away used to take jogs along the tow path with his friends every spring brought lot’s of publicity to this project.
LikeLike