ATIKOKAN – During a recent Thunder Bay city council meeting, Donna Zachariah of the Centennial Canoe Task Force stood up in front of the council to ask what the City of Thunder Bay can do to get the McGilvery Canoe back to Atikokan.
For those who don’t know about this historical piece, in 1967, five Atikokan residents drove McGilvery Canoe to victory in the cross-country Centennial Canoe Race. The province then gifted the canoe to the City of Thunder Bay. After which, the Neebing Voyageur Brigade took ownership of the canoe to display it at Fort William Historical Park.
“The Ontario Centennial Canoe is a unique part of Canada’s history that should be treated as such,” said Zachariah. “Recognizing it's an invaluable role in Canada's history through a public display preserves a part of our heritage and honours the sacrifices of and promise to the Ontario team. An undertaking that has not occurred for 26 years, but the Atikokan CCTF is willing to incur the cost, storage and work to create a public display. Canada's Centennial Canoe Race was the most comprehensive and largest event of its kind. Its historical magnitude & significance continue to be recognized and revered to this very day.”
This wasn’t the first time Zachariah went in front of Thunder Bay’s council on this topic. In 2019, the CCTF stood in front of the council asking for a resolution, but amid the COVID pandemic, a resolution was swept with the tide.
“Yes, we met in 2019,” Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro said. “In my years as an MPP of Thunder Bay-Atikokan, we have spent a great deal of time on this issue trying to help and broker a solution between the committee and Atikokan and the Neebing Brigade. It seems like Atikokan has a tremendous case they have made. They offered to purchase the 67’ centennial canoe, which is not on display, much, if at all, by the Neebing Brigade at Fort William Historical Park, and that offer was turned down eight to 10 years ago. The canoeing situation in Atikokan, I cannot overstate the importance and emotional attachment the community has for this canoe.”
Back in 2013, Zachariah along with long-term Atikokan mayor Dennis Brown asked if the council would consider giving the canoe to Atikokan. They reason that the Centennial Canoe is a piece of history that needs to be displayed as a monument to Ontario’s history.
“The McGilvery Canoe was used by Atikokan representative, Don Meany, who was one of the 4 boat paddlers for the Ontario team who took part in the 1967 Canada’s Centennial Canoe race so the McGilvery canoe is very important to Atikokan,” said Brown. “It has been stored in Fort William Historical Park for over 30 years. Thunder Bay made a deal with the Neebing Voyageur Brigade in 1996 and Atikokan is still trying to get it back in Atikokan.”
However, Zachariah doesn’t think there will be any difficulty this time around in getting the McGillvray Canoe to come to Atikokan.
“We would have it displayed in our downtown area so it could be seen easily by many people who want to look at it. It is very important to Atikokan,” acknowledges Brown.
The longstanding debate over is in ownership of the William McGillvray canoe has been a sight of contention for some time. At first, the province of Ontario gifted the canoe to Thunder Bay, which the city council at that time declare the Neebing Voyageur Brigade as stewards of the canoe until the Neebing Brigade disbands and then the canoe would revert to the city. Although today’s city council is all for gifting the canoe to Atikokan, whether the city of Thunder Bay has the authority to give the canoe to Atikokan is still up in the air. The Neebing Brigade has contact information for its organization nor is there any mention of the organization on social media. One can assume the organization has disbanded, but that assumption isn’t official.
