Expanding on his landmark Globe and Mail series in which he
documented his travels down sixteen of Canada's great rivers, Roy
MacGregor tells the story of our country through the stories of its
original highways, and how they sustain our spirit, identity and
economy--past, present and future.
No country is more blessed with fresh water than Canada. From the mouth
of the Fraser River in BC, to the Bow in Alberta, the Red in Manitoba,
the Gatineau, the Saint John and the most historic of all Canada's
rivers, the St. Lawrence, our beloved chronicler of Canadian life, Roy
MacGregor, has paddled, sailed and traversed their lengths, learned
their stories and secrets, and the tales of centuries lived on their
rapids and riverbanks. He raises lost tales, like that of the Great Tax
Revolt of the Gatineau River, and reconsiders histories like that of the
Irish would-be settlers who died on Grosse Ile and the incredible
resilience of settlers in the Red River Valley. Along the Grand, the
Ottawa and others, he meets the successful conservationists behind the
resuscitation of polluted wetlands, including Toronto's Don, the most
abused river in Canada. In the Mackenzie River Valley he witnesses the
Dehcho First Nation's effort to block a pipeline they worry endangers
the region's lifeblood.
Long before our national railroad was built, rivers held Canada
together; in these sixteen portraits, filled with yesterday's adventures
and tomorrow's promise, MacGregor weaves together a story of Canada and
its ongoing relationship with its most precious resource.
