KAWARTHA LAKES-From the 1830s until the end of the nineteenth century, there had been a tremendous amount of lobbying and political pressure to construct a waterway connecting Georgian Bay with Lake Ontario via the Trent River. Yet, for decades, all of the improvements had also served local navigation—for instance, facilitating boats passing between the lakes that were soon to be named the Kawarthas, removing points where transshipment was necessary. But at the end of the nineteenth century, the Dominion Government began work on the parts of the route that only made sense in the context of a through waterway, including connecting the Trent and Severn watershed by linking Balsam Lake with Lake Simcoe.
As was the case elsewhere on the Trent Waterway, the prospect of building the Bolsover Lock was used to leverage votes in a federal election. Before previous elections, surveys had been ordered on other sections, and in 1894 further surveys were ordered between Balsam Lake and Lake Simcoe. The route had already been surveyed several times, but further surveys were a great way to build public excitement, and they would go ahead even though there was little prospect of finding a better route. $350,278 was expended on surveys and engineering to link Peterborough-Lakefield and Simcoe-Balsam. In 1894, total revenues for the Dominion Government were approximately $34 million—so the surveys and engineering alone for these two expensive sections were more than 1% of annual revenues. It was a very expensive way to buy votes in one particular region.
But the local Member of Parliament Sam Hughes made the most of it through his newspaper the Victoria Warder. He reported on all the different prospective routes, including one from the south end of South Bay on Balsam Lake to Beaverton. The Warder proclaimed: “Several splendid young men have secured employment on the survey party now locating the canal across Eldon. Next spring, when regular work begins, chief engineer Rogers will require all the good men in the locality.”Engineer Richard B. Rogers already knew which route would be chosen, but he had to follow orders for additional surveys which would improve the political chances of the governing party. After the death of Sir John A. Macdonald, the Conservatives were divided, and would ultimately be defeated by Wilfrid Laurier’s Liberals. Though they opposed the Conservatives’ handling of the canal, they too would not dare cancel it.
For all of the money that would be expended on linking these two watersheds, there is little evidence that the Dominion government thought through the consequences of what they were doing. The total cost for linking Peterborough-Lakefield and Balsam-Simcoe was $4,199,170—or 12% of total 1894 Dominion of Canada revenues. Linking two watersheds would permanently change the species that inhabited them. Huge tracts of land were flooded, as two artificial lakes were made, and reservoirs would have to be maintained to hold sufficient water to operate the waterways in both directions. The government was committing in perpetuity to manage the hydrology of both watersheds. A significant amount of the flow down the Trent would have to be diverted to the Severn watershed to create the artificial lakes and operate the locks because Balsam Lake was higher than Lake Simcoe. This would permanently reduce the amount of flow down the Trent River, reducing the capacity of its mill sites (later power plants), while increasing flow on the Severn. As waterfronts all along the waterway were subsequently developed, residents would expect the federal government to maintain what it created—meaning the costs would carry on in perpetuity. How much of this was considered, as the federal officials sought to buy votes with public money?
When Laurier came to power in 1896, work was already underway on the Balsam Lake end of the route to connect this watershed to Lake Simcoe via the Talbot River. Between 1900 and 1907, the firm of Larkin and Sangster completed the section from the Kirkfield Lift Lock to Bolsover at a total cost of $419,823. There had once been a narrow, winding creek flowing into Balsam Lake. A dam at Bolsover would back up the water diverted from Balsam Lake passing through the height of land via new lift lock at Kirkfield, creating Canal Lake. Since it was created from forested dry land, the trees had to be cleared and a channel dredged to allow boats to pass. Canal Lake also serves as a reservoir to hold water passing through the lift lock so it can be used to operate locks further downstream.
As forests were flooded to create Canal and Mitchell Lakes, it resulted in a ghastly landscape of dead-standing trees. A delegation came from Ottawa to attend the opening of a newly completed section from Balsam Lake to Lake Simcoe on July 6, 1907. A procession of steamers, led by the Stoney Lake toured them through the Kirkfield lift lock, the new lakes and canals, as they witnessed the huge numbers of dead trees. Afterwards, canal superintendent J.H. McClennan was asked to remove the unsightly spectacle. After navigation closed for the season that fall, the newly created lakes were drained to allow the dead standing timber to be cut. Some of the material was salvaged to make cedar posts, along with 60,000 feet of pine, hemlock and elm bridge planking. It also supplied the lumber to build lock master’s houses. Throughout the Trent-Severn Waterway, land was flooded as the dams raised water levels. To this day, many stumps remain marking areas that were drowned to create the waterway—especially on Mitchell and Canal Lakes.
This story is part of our partnership with Maryboro Lodge, The Fenelon Falls Museum and was written by Glenn Walker.
If you want to make a donation to the museum, you can e-transfer to: [email protected] or mail a cheque to :
Maryboro Lodge Museum
Box 179
50 Oak Street
Fenelon Falls, ON
K0M 1N0
