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People living along the Ottawa River will not be subjected to additional legislation or regulations if the river receives its heritage designation.
The Ottawa River Heritage Designation committee hosted a public information session at the Jubilee Lodge recently, providing an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions and members of the committee and the Canadian Heritage Rivers System to clear up misconceptions about what the designation will mean.
“The Canadian Heritage Rivers System program can create public benefits and public awareness about how important the waters are,” said CHRS public relations director Brian Grimsey. “We want to highlight the value of the river to the community, recreation and tourism. It is a way to celebrate what’s special, not to regulate.”
He is hopeful that the designation would help communities situated along the Ottawa River increase civic pride and help to promote and market the river as a place to visit, work and live.
The local committee has been working on securing this designation for years and the process finally moved to the next stage in May when environment minister John Baird endorsed the Ottawa River as a historic site by clearing the nomination for final approval by the Canadian Heritage Rivers board of governors.
On the CHRS map, the Ottawa River appears in red to acknowledge it has been nominated.
The next step is these information sessions and the completion of a heritage strategy which clearly identifies the values and merits upon which the river was nominated, explained Ottawa River Heritage Designation committee chairman Larry Graham.
“We have to pledge to Canadian Heritage Rivers that we will govern the river with these values in mind,” he added. “Through this process we want to make people along the river realize what a great waterway they have in front of them.”
The hope is that the designation will be officially announced during the Canadian River Heritage Conference in Ottawa next June.
One of the questions raised more than once was why Quebec isn’t participating in the designation process. Jim Fraser of the Ministry of Natural Resources, who has been involved with the project since the beginning, explained the province withdrew because it wanted to focus on other priorities.