By Michael Rue for Dwight Public Library
Original Highways: Travelling the Great Rivers of Canada has proven to be a compelling read on a number of fronts.
From an historical viewpoint it puts the importance of these waterways into perspective from pre-European times to this very day. Indeed, the First Nations concept of the importance of these waters is well illustrated in the quotation of one of its leaders that “water is life.” As for the rest of Canada, Roy points out how almost every major Canadian city is poised on the edge of one or more of these major waterways: from Vancouver on the mighty Fraser to Montreal at the meeting of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers. It’s hard to think of Calgary without the Bow River or the nation’s capital without the Ottawa River at its front door. After all, these waterways provided highways by which Europeans were able to explore and develop the entire continent.
From an environmental standpoint, the author looks critically at the role of Europeans in the generally unhealthy state of all these waters today. In particular, he shines a light on our negligence in caring for those mighty eastern waterways, the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa, so critical to large numbers Canadians on their shores. The time spent in enumerating our ecological blunders is a significant portion of the narrative. He shines a light on our lack of concern over the endless boil-water advisories and generally deplorable state of water resources on First Nations lands. References are made on numerous occasions to past abuses by industry. Among those mentioned are the Winnipeg River, poisoned with mercury, and the Niagara River which has suffered as a sewer for North America’s first large industrial concentrations and continues to suffer overuse today.
The whole enterprise is skillfully woven together in a web of first person accounts and anecdotes of famous and notable people as well as ordinary folk, all of them expressing concern for the health of these vital waterways. Though there are many painting a bleak vision of the planet’s future, MacGregor ends on a positive note, suggesting that perhaps there is now a critical mass of Canadians that realize our waterways are “something precious to be respected and protected.”
Author Roy MacGregor grew up in Huntsville. His latest book, Original Highways: Travelling the Great Rivers of Canada is available for loan in your local library or for purchase in bookstores and online.
Dwight Public Library is one of two branches in the Lake of Bays Township Public Library. It has launched a renovation project that will see its space expand by 1,800 sq. ft. and for which it is currently raising funds.
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