Pontiac county wants to work with Pembroke and Renfrew County to better promote Ottawa River Waterway

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The Regional County Municipality of Pontiac (MRC Pontiac) wants to better promote the use of the Ottawa River Waterway for tourism in the area and hopes to work with municipalities on this side of the river towards that goal.

When Pembroke’s Planning and Development Committee met on Tuesday, Nov. 5, Township of Chichester Mayor Donald Gagnon and MRC Pontiac Warden Jane Toller made a presentation as a delegation. They explained that MRC Pontiac recently passed a resolution to see if they could work with the County of Renfrew and City of Pembroke towards promoting waterways, including the development of advertisement campaigns.

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Formerly called the Temiskawa Waterway but now dubbed the Ottawa River Waterway, the initiative is a series of portage bypass sites around rapids and dams along the Ottawa River, managed by the Governments of Ontario and Quebec, to allow recreational boating between Mattawa and Montreal.

Pembroke Councillor Brian Abdallah said he remembered taking a trip in the mid-1990s on the Temiskawa Waterway. He said they travelled all the way to Lake Temiskaming and New Liskeard, Ont.

The waterway uses unique marine hydraulic trailers to move boats of up to a maximum of around 30 feet in length, around the various obstructions on the waterway like dams and white water and rapids.

Gagnon said the system mostly remains in place with a lift out at Desjardinsville or Chapeau taking boaters to Bryson, Que. On the Ontario side, boats can be lifted out at Portage du-Fort near Renfrew, and trailered to go back into the Ottawa River at Arnprior, at Hull Marina or Dow’s Lake in Ottawa. This effectively opens up recreational boating routes from the Upper Ottawa River all the way to Montreal or down the Rideau River to the St. Lawrence Seaway. Gagnon noted however, boaters heading north can now go only as far as Mattawa where once they could go all the way to Lake Temiskaming.

Regardless, he wants to get the word out that the trailering bypass option opens up the Ottawa River for boaters from Mattawa to Montreal.

“The biggest problem we have is in marketing it,” Gagnon told committee.

Pembroke Coun. Pat Lafreniere agreed there should be better marketing of this tourism opportunity, calling the Upper Ottawa River “a jewel” here at our shores.

Coun. Andrew Plummer said better promotion sounded like a great idea but council needed more information. Committee directed city staff to look at ways Pembroke could assist in this tourism initiative and to bring those ideas and suggestions back for city to council to examine.

adixon@postmedia.com