TVO The Shield

Rooted in Stone: Part 2 (2x2)

Ημερομηνία προβολής: Φεβ 13, 2010

Local investors approached J. R. Booth of Ottawa to help build a railroad to Parry Sound. Booth planned a line from Ottawa to Parry Sound. They bought up all the land needed for the line to reach their town, and offered it to Booth at inflated prices. He bypassed the town and ran his line to Depot Harbour on Parry Island, which was the Wasauksing First Nations. The federal government amended the Indian Act to allow for expropriation of native land for railroads. The first train arrived in January, 1897. Depot Harbour became a major hub for water and rail forwarding, which at least provided jobs for native people. It wasn't until 1908 that Parry Sound had rail service, when both CN and CPR built their Toronto to Sudbury lines, opening up the town to industrial development. North of Parry Sound, the township of Ambos was chosen for CXL, Canadian Explosives Ltd., creating the town of Nobel. Dynamite was essential for building railways and for mining. The company made cordite for World War One. In 1917, the federal government and CXL established British Cordite Ltd. Over three thousand people, many of them women, were employed. Indians were barred from serving in the military. Not all who volunteered were recognized as such and were accepted. A local man, Corporal Francis Pegahmagabow was a decorated war hero. After the war, he faced discrimination by the Department of Indian Affairs and became an early activist for native equality. World War Two brought another boom to the district. CXL became CIL, employing 4300 people. The federal government created Defence Industries Ltd., DIL, spurring another big jump in the population. The program tells about three terrible explosions during the war years. When Highway 60 was built from Ottawa to Huntsville in 1933, the railway was less important. Depot Harbour was closed in 1939 and disappeared completely in 1979. DIL closed after the war, but A. V. Roe used some of its buildings to test jet engines for the Arrow. When the Arrow was terminated, everybody working there lost their jobs the same day. Industry mostly ended after the war, but the affluent 1950s saw a huge increase in tourism and cottaging, and all the related businesses. The Parry Sound district was popular for outdoor activities and cottaging as early as 1870. The first big hotel went up in 1881. Tourism provided employment for native people as well. Highway 69 opened in the 1950s, enabling more and more people to come to the area. Provincial parks attracted even more. The old industrial infrastructure became a liability. A massive oil spill in 1950 polluted much of the shoreline of Parry Island. The old explosives industries left tonnes of cordite that has never been cleaned up because no stakeholders have taken ownership of the responsibility. To ensure the ongoing preservation of the area, the Georgian Bay Association persuaded the United Nations to declare the Thirty Thousands Islands Region a Biosphere Reserve in 2004.