Rideau King Boat Tours
P.O.Box 201 K0G-1N0 Merrickville, ON, Canada

Ottawa-View of the Rideau Canal looking south from the Sappers bridge. In the upper right you can see the top of the Cartier Square Drill Hall with Lisgar Collegiate further south while a passenger train sits at the Central Depot of the Canada Atlantic Railway on the left. c1896

Paul’s Boat house at Hogs Back c1950’s. Owned by Paul Duhamel of Paul’s boat lines. (Photo from John Kluver)

On this day in 1832, the 47 locks of the Rideau Canal, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, officially opened to boat traffic. The Rideau Canal was built as an alt...ernative military route to protect against American invasions. Over 200 kilometres long, the canal links the Ottawa River in Ottawa with Lake Ontario in Kingston. Work began in 1826 under the guidance of British Royal Engineer Colonel John By. When finished in 1832, the canal was considered a monumental accomplishment and a wonder of engineering. In the process, however, thousands of workers died of malaria while working in the difficult and inhospitable terrain. Find out more: http://ow.ly/bXYD50ut2GX

A look at the first day of the boating season on the Rideau Canal.

Today is International Workers Memorial Day, or the National Day of Mourning; an apt time to pause and reflect upon the roughly 1,000 men who lost their lives b...uilding the Rideau Canal, as well as the men, women, and children affected by injury, disease, subsistence and unsafe working conditions during Bytown’s early history. Workers relied on civilian contractors to provide them with living quarters, medical attention, and suitable daily rations. John Redpath built wood frame barracks each measuring 40 by 30 feet and accommodating 20 men and supplied: fresh beef, salt pork, flour, salt, tea, tobacco and soap to his 200 workers while labouring in the swampy wilderness at Jones Falls. Beer too was provided, and the occasional jigger of rum to encourage workers to push on. Many an unskilled and ill-trained labourer was killed in blasting accidents, and malaria affected all those involved; Redpath himself, as well as Lt.-Col. John By were both struck down by it on several occasions.