Montreal, Ottawa and Georgian Bay Canal.
This latest canal project is the revival of a proposal that was entertained by the Canadian Government many years ago, and upon which there was spent a good deal of money, but which was subsequently abandoned in favour of the St. Lawrence route. Mr. Macleod Stewart, ex-Mayor of Ottawa, and a man of great energy as well as of influence, is the chief promoter of the present enterprise. At his instance a company of British capitalists has been formed for the purpose of constructing and operating a system of canals to complete a through waterway from Montreal to the Great Lakes along the course of the Ottawa and Mattawa rivers, Lake Nipissing and French River to the Georgian Bay, Lake Huron—following precisely the track of the early voyageurs. The chief advantage claimed for this route, from a commercial point of view, is that it is by far the shortest that can be devised from the Upper Lakes to the seaboard. Owing to the directness of the route it would effect a saving in distance of 450 miles over the Erie Canal route, and of 375 over the Welland and St. Lawrence route.
The total distance by the proposed route from Montreal to the waters of Lake Huron is 430 miles, requiring, it is said, the construction of only twenty-nine miles of canal, in addition to the existing canals, to complete a through waterway adapted to the navigation of vessels of 1,000 tons burthen and drawing ten feet of water. Assuming the estimated cost not to exceed $25,000,000, it is represented in the company’s prospectus as an investment holding out the prospect of becoming a fairly remunerative commercial enterprise. It is further advanced in favour of the immediate prosecution of the work, that this route, being cooler and more sheltered than the lakes’ route, would enable grain and cattle to be taken through in better condition; that the rate of insurance would be less; that it would render available immense natural forces in the waters of the Ottawa and its tributaries; and, especially, that owing to its distance from the international boundary it would, in case of war, be of the highest military importance, and prove of great value as a means of defence and of protection to our commerce. Provided that the necessary funds are forthcoming, there are said to be no engineering difficulties to prevent the work being completed in three years’ time. On the other hand, it is alleged that a canal system limited to a draft of ten feet would not meet the present-day requirements, and could not be expected to compete successfully with one offering fourteen feet, even if the distance to be traversed would be shorter. Grain merchants, East and West, hold strongly to the opinion that the route which will bring the largest class of vessels navigating the Great Lakes to the seaboard at least expense is the route that will capture the trade. A ship canal for the Ottawa route, having twenty-five to thirty feet depth of water, with locks of 500 to 600 feet in length, would seem to offer many advantages, though in the estimation of the Deep Waterways Commission “its consideration is not now justified.”
CHAPTER X.
IN THE PROVINCES OF THE DOMINION.
The History of Steam Navigation in the several Provinces
of the Dominion and Newfoundland.