Contents
ALSO BY ROY M AC GREGOR
NONFICTION
Canoe Country: The Making of Canada
Wayne Gretzkys Ghost: And Other Tales from a Lifetime in Hockey
Northern Light: The Enduring Mystery of Tom Thomson
and the Woman Who Loved Him
Canadians: A Portrait of a Country and Its People
The Dog and I: Confessions of a Best Friend
The Weekender: A Cottage Journal
Escape: In Search of the Natural Soul of Canada
A Loonie for Luck
A Life in the Bush
The Road Home: Images of the Ottawa Valley
The Home Team: Fathers, Sons and Hockey
The Seven A.M. Practice: Stories of Family Life
Quantity Time: Words of Comfort for Imperfect Parents
Road Games: A Year in the Life of the NHL
Chief: The Fearless Vision of Billy Diamond
Home Game: Hockey and Life in Canada (with Ken Dryden)
FICTION
Canoe Lake
The Last Season
FOR YOUNG READERS
The Screech Owls Series
The Highest Number in the World
Forever: The Annual Hockey Classic
PUBLISHED BY RANDOM HOUSE CANADA
Copyright 2017 Roy MacGregor
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published in 2017 by Random House Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Distributed in Canada by Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto.
www.penguinrandomhouse.ca
Random House Canada and colophon are registered trademarks.
Photograph credits
Courtesy of Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail: .
Unless otherwise indicated all photos are the property of the author.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
MacGregor, Roy, 1948, author
Original highways : travelling the great rivers of Canada / Roy MacGregor.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 9780307361387
eBook ISBN 9780307361400
1. RiversCanada. 2. RiversCanadaHistory. 3. CanadaHistoryAnecdotes. 4. CanadaHistory, Local. 5. CanadaDescription and travel. 6. MacGregor, Roy, 1948TravelCanada. I. Title.
GB1229.M33 2017333.91620971C2017-902008-0
Book design by Andrew Roberts
Map created by Anthony de Ridder, based upon designs by Pomogayev and zak00 from iStock / Getty Images
Cover photo: (Chilcotin River, British Columbia) Chris Harris / Getty Images
v4.1
a
For Bruce Westwood, who made me do it.
He thought his happiness was complete when, as he meandered aimlessly along, suddenly he stood by the edge of a full-fed river. Never in his life had he seen a river beforethis sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again. All as a-shake and a-shiverglints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble. The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated. By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spellbound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chatted on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea.
Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CANADAS ORIGINAL HIGHWAY: THE ST. LAWRENCE
CHAPTER TWO
PRICELESS AND PRECARIOUS: THE OTTAWA
CHAPTER THREE
RISING FROM THE DEAD: THE DON
CHAPTER FOUR
SYMBOL OF LIFE: THE MIGHTY FRASER
CHAPTER FIVE
WE ARE RED RIVER PEOPLE
CHAPTER SIX
WATER WONDER OF THE WORLD: THE NIAGARA
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE RHINE OF NORTH AMERICA: THE SAINT JOHN
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE MACKENZIE: RIVER OF DISAPPOINTMENT OR HOPE
CHAPTER NINE
RETURN TO SPLENDOUR: THE GRAND
CHAPTER TEN
STRESSES ALONG THE BOW
CHAPTER ELEVEN
TAX REVOLTS AND INDEPENDENCE: THE GATINEAU
CHAPTER TWELVE
COLONEL BYS AMAZING FEAT: THE RIDEAU RIVER AND CANAL
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
RIVER OF POLITICS: THE COLUMBIA
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
WATER IS LIFE: THE NORTH SASKATCHEWAN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
COTTAGE COUNTRY BEAUTY AND BATTLES: THE MUSKOKA
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
WHITEWATER ESCAPE ON THE DUMOINE
INTRODUCTION
A DOZEN DAYS BEFORE THE October 19, 2015, federal election, I flew from Ottawa to Vancouver for a one-on-one sit-down with then prime minister Stephen Harper. My newspaper, the Globe and Mail, had been approached by his staff regarding a possible interview and had been led to believe it would be substantive. When I arrived at the interview locationa rented hall in nearby Richmondit quickly became clear that the Globe was merely one in a string of one-on-one meetings, various reporters from the national broadcasters and news agencies all sent to wait their turn in a suffocating room with lukewarm coffee. I was told by the prime ministers curt handlers that I would have ten minutes with him, not a moment longer.