CHIGNECTO BARRIER

The Story of the
CHIGNECTO BARRIER ,
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The Story
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CHIGNECTO BARRIER Published by the Chignecto Canal Committee,
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a voluntary organization of citizens representing
municipal councils, boards of trade, labor unions,
manufacturers, general business, farmers, fisher ..
men. lumbermen. mine operators and many
other groups in Canada's Atlantic provinces.
(Chlrts by Stevenson and Kellogg, Ltd., Montreal)
Barrier or Asset- -Which!
The Isthmus of Chignecto, approximately 18 miles wide, joins
Nova Scotia to New Brunswick. To the north is the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, to the south the Bay of Fundy.
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This neck of land is fertile, richly endowed with natural beauty,
and possessed of an adventurous and romantic history. But in spite
of that the Isthmus of Chignecto is a barrier which for generations has
obstructed the full economic development of Canada, particularly
that of the Atlantic region. Such an obstruction should be removed.
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The urgent need of Canada's seaboard provinces is for cheaper
transportation. I t _has to be kept clearly in mind that two of them ­
Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland - are islands, while a
third, Nova Scotia, is almost an island. Their transportation handi­
caps cannot be adequately appreciated unless proper consideration is
given to this fact. In other words, the construction and maintenance
of water routes are vital to their economy. Such being the case, one
way to meet the urgent need for cheap transportation is to convert
the barrier of the Chignecto Isthmus into an asset by making of it a
water highway - in short, by constructing a canal across this narrow
neck of land.
Such action is imperative. The Atlantic provinces have been
burdened for years by prohibitive transportation costs. The postwar
railway freight rate increases have made their position much worse
and plunged them into a crisis. The rest of Canada has gone ahead
with phenomenal speed since the war, but the seaboard region,
because of transportation handicaps, has not been able to participate
in this prosperity.
Shorter Water Routes
One of the most important factors determining transportation
costs is distance. The following table shows typical examples of
what the Chignecto Canal would do in the way of reducing distances
between various points:
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(A) Via (B) Via
North Cape Canso
Via
Canal
(A)
Saving
(B)
Saving
(Statute Miles)
Montreal to
Windsor. N. S. _......
1490
1405
929
561
476
Montreal to
Hantsport. N. S.......
1479
1394
918
561
476
Montreal to
Parrsboro. N. S .......
1467
1382
906
561
476
Montreal to
Joggins, N. S.........
1477
1392
837
640
555
Montreal to
Digby. N. S..........
1382
1297
930
452
367
Montreal to
Hillsboro. N. B.......
1499
1414
854
645
560
Summerside to
Saint John. N. B ......
828
643
166
662
477
Summerside to
Portland. Me.........
885
700
374
511
326
Charlottetown to
Boston. Mass .........
928
731
506
422
225
Saint John to
Montreal, P. Q........
1403
1318
922
481
396
Saint John to
Charlottetown. P.E.I ..
790
593
172
61'8
421
Saint John to
Pictou. N. S..........
765
558
212
553
346
Saint John to
Newcastle, N. B......
857
715
245
612
470
Apart from such savings in distance as those shown above. it
must be remembered that many vessels built far the coastal and
inland water trade are not suited for the long hazardous circuit of
Nova Scotia on their way to and from the ports of the Bay of Fundy
and those of the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes. The perils of this
passage would be eliminated by the Chignecto Canal.
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Other Advantages of the Canal
There are the strongest reasons for the conviction that the canal
would revitalize the whole economy of Canada's seaboard region.
Lumbering, farming, fishing. mining. shipping and manufacturing
would all enjoy its benefits. and low~cost water transportation would
be bound to extend the marketing radius for native products.
Furthermore. the advantages would be reciprocal. In Central and
Western Canada. corresponding benefits would be felt not only in
lower prices for Maritime commodities delivered there. but also in
lower transportation costs for western produce to the markets of the
Atlantic region.
The construction of the Chignecto Canal would:
(a) Provide a short route in sheltered waters to the trading
points of the Bay of fundy and New England for the products of
Northern Nova Scotia. Northern New Brunswick. Prince Edward
Island and Newfoundland;
(b) Increase coastwise shipping between ports on the Gulf of
St. Lawrence. the Bay of Chaleur and Northumberland Strait. and
those on the Bay of Fundy;
(c) Increase regular steamship sailings between the Atlantic
provinces and Central Canada;
(d) Make it convenient for vessels plying between Montreal
and points on the Atlantic seaboard to call at ports. not only in the
Bay of Fundy but in Northern Nova Scotia. Prince Edward Island
and Northern New Brunswick. to load or discharge cargo "in passing";
(e) Revive native industries which flourished years ago but
which could not survive the pressure of ever~increasing rail charges;
(f)
Stimulate the establishment of new industries;
(g)
Create a new economy in the Atlantic provinces.
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"Economic RetJitalizalion"
The economic revitalization of the Atlantic region is paramount
among the problems Canada has to grapple with today. The phrase,
economic revitalization, implies that at one time the region enjoyed
an economic status which has since been lost. This is true.
I t may surprise many residents of Central Canada to know that
four years after Confederation, the percentage of population employed
in industry in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
was almost equal to the percentage of population similarly employed
in Quebec and Ontario. The actual average figures were 5.50 per cent
for the two central provinces and 5.25 per cent for the three seaboard
provinces. New Brunswick's percentage was 6.43 - the highest of
all provinces.
Seventy-five years later, however, there had been a tremendous
change. Ontario and Quebec had been steadily enriched, and their
industrial employment average rose from 5.50 per cent to 10.50 per
cent, with Ontario highest of all with 11.58 per cent. In the three
Atlantic provinces there had not been an increase, but a devastating
decline. Their position had deteriorated from 5.25 per cent to 3.70
per cent. Incidentally, New Brunswick in that perj.od had dropped
from first place to second from the last among the five provinces.
The industrial decline of the Atlantic region has been the darkest
shadow on the history of Confederation. and residents of the region
have come to the conclusion that one of the most productive remedies
- a remedy which would confer lasting benefits - is the construction
of the Chignecto Canal.
The History
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the Canal Project
The history of the canal project begins more than 260 years ago,
in the days of Louis the Fourteenth and the French regime. The
intendant of New France. Jacques de Meulles. saw the advantage of
severing the isthmus. and his suggestion of how to gO'fabout it was
quite simple - just clear a way across the flats and let the 47-foot­
high tides of the Bay of Fundy do the rest. The intendant was not an
engineer, but his vision of the need, even for those far-off days, was
sound.
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Monsieur de Meulles wrote: "There are only four leagues to be
traversed by land to go from French Bay to Baie Verte and the
portage may easily be cut through by canal since all the land is very
low. I t would shorten the way from Quebec to Port Royal (Annapolis)
by at least 200 leagues (600 miles). If the sea once passed through,
it would make in a vf!ty short time a very fine river, by which ships
from Quebec could easily pass."
Nothing came of his idea. The almost ceaseless conflict between
French and English for mastery of Acadia prevented anything from
being done.
Actually it was not until 1822 that the first practical step was
taken.. A survey- for the canal was made in that year, and it was
followed by others. The most competent engineers of the day agreed
that the surveys showed the project to be both feasible and desirable.
The legislatures of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward
Island warmly endorsed the plan. and at one stage the Province of
Canada (now Ontario and Quebec) indicated its approval.
In the pre-Confederation negotiations of 1864 and 1866, the
Chignecto Canal was repeatedly discussed by delegates. I t will be
shown later that its construction was actually promised as an induce..
ment to the Maritime provinces to enter Confederation.
The first parliament of Canada quickly got down to business on
the canal project when, in 1868, it ordered the reports of all surveys
referred to the minister of public works for study. When this was
done hopes of early action ran high. Departmental officials who
examined the engineering and other data for the minister were so
decisive in their recommendations that Senator Robert B. Dickey of
Amherst. N. S., declared: "This great work is now removed from the
category of provincial questions and has become a Dominion
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neceSSIty.
I t looked as though the undertaking would be gone ahead with
immediately, but other factors intervened. Canada was engaged in
reciprocity negotiations with the United States. and the enlargement
of Canada's waterway system entered into the discussions. This led
to the necessity for making an extensive survey of all canal projects.
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In 1870 a Royal Commission headed by Sir Hugh Allan (one of the
prime movers in orgamzmg the Canadian Pacific Railway) was
established to carry this out.
The Allan Commission's report divided its recommendations into
works of first, second, third and fourth classes. The first class
embraced "all those works" which "for the general interest of the
Dominion should be undertaken and proceeded with as fast as the
means at the disposal of the government will warrant." The
Chignecto Canal was placed in this category.
Things went so favorably that Sir John A. Macdonald's govern~
ment called for tenders for the canal's construction, but, behind the
scenes, violent disputes had arisen between the departmental engineers
on one hand, and the engineering experts of the Allan Commission on
the other. This dissension continued until 1873 and it is clear from a
speech delivered in the House of Commons by Sir Charles Tupper,
who later was prime minister of Canada. that prejudices and jealousies
arising from frustrated personal ambitions, had much to do with the
obstructive delays which held back the work on the canal.
One other important factor was the defeat of Sir John A.
Macdonald's government in 1873.
Canada's second government, that of Hon. Alexander Mackenzie,
twice included money for the Chignecto Canal in the federal estimates.
but in the meantime the great depression of the 1870's overwhelmed
the country. With financial catastrophe on every side, the Mackenzie
government appointed another Royal Commission to go into the
question of the Chignecto Canal. Its chairman was Hon. John
Young of Montreal.
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Mr. Young had been an ardent advocate of the project and had
delivered enthusiastic speeches in its support. However, faced with
economic chaos and the need for retrenchment in administration
spending, Mr. Young's commission recommended
but not un­
animously - that the matter be dropped.
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The Ship Railway
Despairing of federal government action. the Atlantic provinces
turned to a civil engineer of international reputation. H. G. C.
Ketchum. who dreamed of spanning the Isthmus of Chignecto with a
railway wh1ch would carry ships overland. Mr. Ketchum said such
a railway would serve the same purpose as a canal and cost only
one-third as much.
In 1882 he obtained a charter for the Chignecto Marine Railway
Transport Company. and the Dominion government agreed to pay
an annual subsidy of $150.000 for 25 years provided the railway was
in operation within seven years. Ketchum raised funds in England
and spent $4.000,000, but did not have enough money to complete
the railway within the stipulated period. The House of Commons
refused to extend the time-limit for the subsidy and the venture
collapsed.
The Surveyer Commission
Little was heard again of the Chignecto Canal until the late
1920's. In that decade, when the rest of the country was attaining
new peaks of prosperity, it became alarmingly clear that something
was wrong with the Atlantic region. Old industries were vanishing.
farms were being abandoned. wages were low. All this was stemming
from the old handicap of distance - the Atlantic provinces were too
far from their markets in Central Canada. too far from Central
Canadian sources of supply. and the prohibitive railway freight rates
were crippling their economy.
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In parliament, the Maritime representatives once more demanded
the Chignecto Canal. A Royal Commission was appointed by the
Mackenzie King government in June, 1930. and instructed to inquire
into the project in the light of new conditions. Three of the four
commissioners were from the Maritime provinces. The board con~
sisted of F. M. Ross, representing New Brunswick, j. j. Johnston.
K.C., representing Prince Edward Island. Professor A. B. Balcom, of
Acadia University, representing Nova Scotia, and Professor C. D.
McArthur, of Queens University, Kingston, Onto
Before this commission met, the Mackenzie King government
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was defeated at the polls. The incoming R. B. Bennett ministry.
after a delay of a year, named its own commission, composed of
Dr. Arthur Surveyer, of Montreal. chairman; John F. Sowards, of
Kingston, Ont., and one Maritimer. D. W. Robb, of Amherst, N. S.
There is a striking parallel between the conditions under which
this commission held its hearings and those which formed the back­
ground for the Young Commission in 1873. Again the world was in
the throes of a great depression - a depression recognized as the
worst in history. Again the government's policy was one of re­
trenchment. of reducing administration spending and avoiding
further financial commitments.
The commission' s findings were a foregone conclusion and
surprised no one. Construction of the canal would be unwise. the
commission said. in the face of "prevailing financial conditions", It
did not. however. close the door too tightly. Its last word was that
while it could not see that any interests would suffer if the project
were left in abeyance for the time being. the canal proposal could be
"further examined in the light of future developments in Canada's
economic situation."
The developments in Canada's economic situation mentioned by
the Surveyer Commission have now taken place, and this is the time
to build the canal.
The Pre-Confederation Pledge
Construction of the Chignecto Canal was a definite pledge made
prior to Confederation in 1867 to the three Maritime provinces by the
representatives of Ontario and Quebec. In the years following
Confederation, parliament was repeatedly reminded by those who had
been delegates to the pre-Confederation conferences at Quebec and
London that. in the words of Senator Amos E, Botsford, of New
Brunswick, the Chignecto Canal "was held out by the (Quebec)
conference as an inducement to New Brunswick to go for Con­
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federation."
Senator Robert B. Dickey of Nova Scotia declared that Hit was
distinctly understood there (at the Quebec conference) that this
canal should be constructed."
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John Burpee, M.P. for Sunbury, N. B., declared that if the people
of New Brunswick had not been satisfied that the canal would be
built they would never have consented to the union.
Senator R. D. Wilmot, of New Brunswick, asserted that the canal
had been discus~d at the London conference of 1866. It was the
understanding of the delegates that it would be one of the first public
works undertaken.
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These and similar confirming statements were made in the
presence and hearing of other parliamentarians who attended the
pre-Confederation conferences. They were made not once but many
times, and in no case were they contradicted or was any doubt cast
on their authentici ty.
Conclusion
There have been at least ten surveys of the Chignecto Isthmus
in the last century and a quarter. With only minor differences of
opinion on technical aspects, all agreed that the canal was feasible.
Canada stands on the threshold of a great future. Her rich
natural resources, both above and below ground, distributed liberally
over wide areas of the country, are unmatched anywhere in the world.
Canada's wealth calls for intelligent exploitation and for the estab­
lishment of every facility to carry Canadian produce to the peoples
of the earth.
Canada has generally built courageously in advance of immediate
economic requirements. Unhappily, this does not apply to the
Chignecto Canal, and many decades which could have brought
prosperity to the Atlantic region have been allowed to pass by.
However, such mistakes have a value if the lessons they teach are
heeded.
The Chignecto Canal is a national need. In fairness to the
Atlantic region, as well as in the interests of the whole country,
Canada must keep her promise and build it now.
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legend
498,120
1871
1946
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1946
TIMES
NUMBER OF EMPLOYES IN
INDUSTRY. 1871-1946.
DISTRIBUTION OF EMPLOYES
IN INDUSTRY. 1871.1946.
The above charts show the relative positiqn of the Maritime
Provinces, Quebec and Ontario, in the field of industrial employment.
The bar chart at left reveals the growth of industrial employment
between 1871 and 1946. Over that period. employment has increased
by approximately 300,000 in Quebec and 400.000 in Ontario, but the
increase in the three Maritime Provinces combined has been a mere
15,000.
The charts at the right show the distribution of industrial
employes in the five provinces. I t will be seen that approximately
one out of five industrial workers was employed in the Maritimes in
1871. However, in 1946, the proportion had been reduced to ap­
proximately one out of 17. This reflects the ground lost in the
industrial field by the Maritime Provinces since 1871 1f
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_1871
_1946
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CHANGE IN RATE OF INDUS­
TRIAL EMPLOYMENT PER 1,000
OF POPULATION, 1871-J946.
RATE OF INDUSTRIAL EMPLOY­
MENTPER 1.000 OF POPULATION.
1871-1946.
The above charts reveal the changes that have occurred in industrial
employment since Confederation. The chart at the left shows that in
1871 industry in Prince Edward Island gave employment to 53
persons out of each thousand of population. By 1946 that figure had
been reduced to 19. To put it another way, in 1946.34 persons fewer
per thousand were employed in industry than in 1871. The rate of
industrial employment per thousand had gone down by about 64 per
cent as indicated in the chart at the right.
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New Brunswick has not fared much better. I t will be noticed
that in 1871, it had the highest rate of industrial employment of any
of the provinces, namely 64.3 per thousand of population. In 1946
this figure had dropped to 45.2 per thousand. This occurred in spite
of the continued trend toward industrialization throughout the world.
The provinces of Quebec and Ontario have followed the general
trend of increased industrialization, the rate of industrial employment
in 1946 for Ontario being more than double the rate in 1871.
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$13.50 MANUFACTURING PAYROLL
PER CAPITA, 1871
MANUFACTURING PAYROLL
(New Brunswick highest)
(Ontario highest)
PER CAPITA, 1946
The above charts present a comparison of the industrial wages
paid per capita in the various provinces in the years 1871 and 1946.
For example, the industrial wages paid per inhabitant in New
Brunswick were the highest of any of the provinces in 1871 at $13.50.
By 1946 this province ranked second lowest, with per capita wages
of $65.90.
By comparison, industrial wages per capita in Ontario,
which in 1871 were slightly less than those of New,[Brunswick, were
in 1946 three times as high as those of New Brunswick.
18 POPULATION BY PROVINCES
(To nearest thousands)
1871
1948
94,000
93,000
P. E. I. ... .
388,000
635,000
N.S..... ..
N.B..... .
286,000
503,000
Que.. . . . .. 1,192,000 3,792,000
Ont.. . . . .. 1,621,000 4,297,000
PERSONAL INCOME BY PROVINCES - 1948 PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN
POPULATION BETWEEN 1871
AND 1946
P. E. I.. .. .. . . . . . . . . .
N. S.................
N. B... , . . . . . . . .. . . .
Que.................
Ont.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$548.39
681.89 636.18
783.76
1,074.94
The chart above shows the percentage change in population in
Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and
Quebec. The increases in population for Ontario and Quebec over­
shadow by a great margin the increases in Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick, Prince Edward Island shows an actual loss in population.
Migration from Prince Edward Island in considerable numbers is of
course responsible for this, since the excess of births over deaths
would otherwise have resulted in a large increase. The actual
population figures are given in the upper table at the right of the
chart.
The lower table shows the personal income per capita in each of
the five provinces for the year 1948. I t will be noted that income is
lowest in the three Maritime Provinces, being only $548.39 for Prince
Edward Island, while it is highest in Ontario where it is nearly twice
as much, $1,074.94.
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