An ice breaker's view as the St. Lawrence Seaway opens for passage
The St. Lawrence Seaway was formally opened in June of 1959
After a one-week delay due to cold weather and heavy ice the St. Lawrence Seaway opened Thursday morning.
Transport Minister Lisa Raitt was in St. Lambert, Quebec to open the waterway. Raitt said "We should be very proud of the tremendous economic asset that the St. Lawrence Seaway is for our country."
The St. Lawrence Seaway was formally opened in 1959 by Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Take a look at the remarkable report at the bottom of this page from the CBC's Digital Archives from June of 1959 when the Seaway officially opened.
For a more modern look at how the government gets the Seaway ready for passage see the Youtube video at the bottom of this page. On April 1, 2015 Fisheries Canada posted this extraordinary video showing the CCGS Griffon breaking ice on Lake Erie. The video provides a rare look at how ice breakers clear a path through frozen Canadian waters each spring.
In a press release from Minister Raitt's office she said that in 2014 'some 12 million tonnes of grain moved through the Seaway -- the highest volume since the turn of the 21st century.'