Mr. Speaker, for thousands of years the Ottawa River was the primary transportation route to the Canadian interior. Long before the arrival of the white man, our aboriginal people understood its importance. In fact, the Algonquins controlled the river for many years and exacted tolls from those using it. It is likely that Etienne Brûlé was the first European to travel the river in 1610, followed by Samuel de Champlain in 1613.
Today a group of individuals no less visionary than our aboriginal peoples and the early explorers is seeking to open up the Ottawa River to navigation from Lake Temiskaming to the St. Lawrence. Two phases which open the upper reaches of the river have already been completed by the Ottawa River Navigable Waterway Corporation. The final phase between the Chaudière Falls and Lac Deschênes is the only stretch of the river that remains to be opened.
There is tremendous potential for jobs and economic development along the Ottawa River. I would like to urge the federal government to work with this non-profit corporation to initiate a feasibility study to determine the economic costs and benefits of constructing a bypass system or a lock system to permit the navigation of small craft on the Ottawa River.