On March 12,
1998, Prime Minister Jean Chretien announced that the completion of the Trans Canada Trail
will be one of Canada’s major millennium projects. Similarly on March 11, 1998 the
B.C., government announced the B.C. portion of the Trans Canada Trail as its first
millennium project, the first province to do so. Other provinces who have since declared
the Trail a Millennium project are Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia. Vancouver, Burnaby, and Coquitlam have followed suit for their communities. Many
other jurisdictions along the Trail are also considering including the Trail as their
millennium project. The Trans Canada Trail in itself is a millennium project intended to
be opened to the public September 9, 2000.
The Trans
Canada Trail when completed will be the longest and most spectacular shared use trail in
the world. It will join communities from Victoria, British Columbia to St. John's,
Newfoundland, with a second leg reaching north through Alberta to the Arctic Ocean at
Tuktoyaktuk. It will be nearly 17,000 kilometres in length and, when substantially
completed for the formal opening of the Trail on September 9, 2000. It will provide a
sensational recreational, tourist, educational, and greenways amenity for our citizens and
visitors.
In British
Columbia, it runs nearly 1,700 kilometres from Victoria to the Rocky Mountains, through
some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. It passes through or near many
communities including: Victoria, Duncan, and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island; the North Shore,
Vancouver and Lower Mainland communities to Langley, Chilliwack, and Hope in the Fraser
Valley; Princeton, Penticton, and Kelowna in the Okanagan; Kootenay and Rocky Mountain
communities including Grand Forks, Trail, and Cranbrook, and onto the British
Columbia-Alberta border. It will have spur trails linking to it as the British Columbia
Trail Network develops.
For much of its route, it
follow the disused railways. From Downtown Victoria, it uses the Galloping Goose Trail,
once the CNR line through Vancouver Island, now a major recreational trail and tourist
attraction. From before Tulameen (Juliet) to Grand Forks, it follows the spectacular
Southern CPR route built in 1909-1915 as the Kettle Valley Railway. The British Columbia
Government, who is supportive of its inclusion in the Trans Canada Trail, now owns over
500 kilometres of this route. Disused CPR Rail sections turned over to the Trans Canada
Trail Foundation are becoming part of the Trans Canada Trail.
At this
time, the
communities along the way have cooperated in a variety of ways to ensure the
Trail's continuity or integrity. As time goes
on, the Southwest communities will increasingly find ways to add interest to the trail.
The Southwest Region has much to offer to the Trans Canada Trail
enthusiast in its 400-kilometre section. Features of the Trail will include the Seaview
walk out of Horseshoe Bay, a forest trail on the North Shore Mountains to the Cleveland
Dam, the Capilano Regional Park, Mosquito Creek to the SeaBus, Coal Harbour, Lost Lagoon,
English Bay, South False Creek, Chinatown, Burrard View Park, New Brighton Park, the parks
along the Burnaby Burrard Inlet Escarpment, Burnaby Mountain Park, Moody Inlet, Rocky
Point, Lafarge Lake, Coquitlam River Park, the PoCo Trail along Hyde Creek, the Pitt River
and North Alouette River dikes, Kanaka Creek Park, Fort Langley, Glen Valley Park, the
Matsqui Trail, Sumas Mountain via Chadsey Lake on the old Centennial Trail, the Vedder
Canal to the Chilliwack River Valley, Cultus Lake, the Chilliwack River and Lake, the
Silverhope River Valley to Hope, and the Othello Tunnels. From here, a splendid trail is
being assembled to reach Tulameen on the Kettle Valley Railroad corridor taking in the
Coquihalla and Coldwater Rivers.
The Trans Canada Trail in the Southwest Region
offers a myriad of connections to other important parks. It provides easy connections
to Regional Parks such as Lynn Headwaters via the Baden Powell Trail, Pacific Spirit, Belcarra, Minnekhada, Colony Farm, and Derby Reach. As well, there
is easy access to
Provincial Parks such as Cypress, Golden Ears, Cultus, International Ridge and Manning
parks. For the hardy and adventurous hikers, alternatives from the TCT will be offered
along the way to take advantage of the high country and alpine meadows.
The experiences offered along the Southwest Region is
remarkably rich. Natural sea shores, salmon bearing streams and hatcheries, working
forests and rivers, first and second growth forests, rain and alpine forests, marshland
and polders, farmland, meadows, bird sanctuaries, cultural and heritage opportunities,
spectacular vistas, mountains, valleys, and a variety of waterways will be some of these unforgettable
experiences. All of this is fast becoming a reality because of the mounting enthusiasm for
a dream, one that will
serve Canadians for untold generations.
Bill
Archibald, a former teacher and resident of Maple Ridge, B.C., was summoned to help
initiate this overwhelming project now known as the Trans Canada Trail. Because of his
tremendous knowledge of trails and his foresight, he probably has been the greatest
contributor to the Trans Canada Trail at the local, provincial and national levels. The
vision he had and the advice he gave in 1992 still holds, which speaks well for his
influence in advancing the concept of the Trans Canada Trail as we know it today. He will
definitely be remembered as one of the chief initiators of this legacy that
was
launched in Year 2000. He continues to make untold financial and personal sacrifices for
this Trail and other trails. Known as the "trail man of B.C.", he is continually
bombarded with inquiries from inside and outside the country.
Canada has Many Trails The great expanse of Canada is criss-crossed by millions of miles of tracks both naturally
created by migrating animals or consciously by adventuring humans. Our task is to find the
significant east-west pathways and connect them together as links in a trail-chain across
Canada.
Where? Usually each area has some trail-minded, knowledgeable person who may point out the way to
go. Often they have maps of the region in question that you may copy or they are willing
to lead you through at a convenient time. Try to get their information onto a national
topographic base map (1:50,000) and record any anecdotal comments - historical, whose
land, user groups, who maintains it if anyone, etc. Always record the informant's name,
address and phone so he may be credited or contacted again.
How? Quite often, you may find that some local group has 'adopted' the trail and feels they
have paternal rights. They use it, patrol it for problems, maintain it through work
parties, sign it and claim it as "their trail". Do nothing to upset this
arrangement. Establish a good rapport with some of the trail adopters, explain what level
of use or traffic may be expected and by which user groups. It may have been an old pack
trail for horses but has now been laboriously up-graded for hiking.
The less formal trails Trails across private land, treaty land or leased land may have been used casually by
local and visiting travelers without any formal agreement with the land owner/manager. It
used to be that "innocent" trespass was overlooked but now that trails are being
mapped and signs are being erected property owners are concerned that they may lose their
control of the use of the land or that they will be held liable should a trespasser be
injured or killed. We must change the Occupier's Liability Act to protect the landowner
and put more of the responsibility on the user. The Outdoor Recreation Council will lobby
for this essential change.
Conclusion Lastly, the utilization of existing pathways is the most cost-efficient way to develop the
Cross-Canada Trail. Locate them, map them and find someone to "adopt" each
section. Then call on ALL VOLUNTEERS to build the few missing links in the chain of
trails.
Trails are
becoming the activity of choice in the New Millennium
Boom
Bust & Echo 2000: Profiting from the Demographic Shift In the New Millennium
by David K.
Foot
"There
is no excuse for a community to spend money on hockey rinks at the millennium that are
likely to be empty in 2005, while neglecting to provide the parks and walking trails that
an aging population needs.
The basic
demographic fact of spectator sports is that younger people go to more games than older
people.
A nation of younger people is a society of
hockey and tennis players. A nation of older people is a society of gardeners and walkers.
As a result, projections show that resting
will be one of Canada's most popular leisure 'activities' in years to come. So will
reading , hobbies and attendance at museums, theatres and places of worship. In contrast,
participation in sports as well as attendance at sports events will become less popular.
These facts have important public policy implications. Even with the impacts of the echo
generation, Canada probably has all the football fields, squash courts and volleyball
courts it needs. If funds are available for new facilities, they should be devoted to
walking trails, curling rinks and swimming pools for recreational swimming, because an
older population continues to engage in these activities.
Today the echo kids are in the prime
hockey-playing years, so the rinks have filled up again. But the echo peaked in 1990,
which means that the demand for hockey facilities will peak around 2002 and decline
thereafter. Because of the impact of the echo as well as ongoing demand from busters and
boomers still playing hockey, Canada did need some new rinks in the 1990's. But this need
is diminishing and it is important that communities not overbuild.
[...] growth in attendance at plays another
cultural events will probably exceed population growth. As a result we will need more
theatres and fewer arenas.
As a majority of the population moves from
activities like tennis and spectator sports to ones like walking and birding, the movement
to make the countryside more accessible will intensify. The most spectacular example is
the Trans Canada Trail."
