River of Dreams: The Saga of the Shubenacadie Canal

Margaret Conrad is Canada Research Chair in Atlantic Canada Studies at
the University of New Brunswick. She is the author of Atlantic Canada: A
Region in the Making, and coauthor of Intimate Relations: Family and
Community in Planter Nova Scotia, 1759–1

In Canada’s transportation history, canals are usually associated with
the St. Lawrence–Great Lakes system. The Shubenacadie Canal, designed
to provide a shorter route between Halifax Harbour and the Bay of Fundy,
was inspired by military and commercial dreams similar to those that
spawned the Lachine, Rideau, and Welland canals, but its history is a
far less happy one. Although construction on the canal began in 1826, it
was not completed until the 1860s, by which time it was forced to
compete with a nearby rail line. Within a decade, the Shubenacadie Canal
fell into disuse and its crumbling structures became subject to
vandalism.

Notwithstanding its limited success, the canal has continued to inspire
dreams, most recently of supporting recreational activities. The
Shubenacadie Canal Commission was established in 1980 and, within five
years, its members had succeeded in having the canal designated as a
National Historic Civil Engineering Site and in attracting a government
grant to study and improve some of the long-neglected locks. Despite
drastic cuts to funding in 2000, the members of the Canal Commission
continue to pursue their goal of creating a working canal. This
attractive little book will almost certainly advance their cause.

Both a writer and a photographer, Donna Barnett has produced an
illustrated text detailing the canal’s complicated story. She sticks
closely to her sources, which include a rich paper trail of frustrated
dreams, lawsuits, and labor unrest. In the last of the five chapters,
Barnett takes her readers on a canoe and portage tour of the line that
holds such a special place in her heart. Images make up at least half of
the text, with maps, drawings, and old photographs supplementing
Barnett’s own camera work. The latter conveys the canal route at its
best—spring, summer, and autumn colors, often in morning and evening
light. For those interested in following the course of events associated
with the canal’s history, there is a well-designed timeline as well as
a short bibliography. Unfortunately, there is no index.