The record of this carrying place, -this safe passageway around the rapids and falls between the Lake of the Woods and the Winnipeg River, has been used by countless individuals, traders and families from many nations from time immemorial.  It is the nature of such places that they must be shared. I am confident that as our knowledge and understanding of this site is renewed and revitalized, that quality of sharing will be an important part of its legacy.

It is worth noting that this portage is located where the trade and water transportation route of the Anishinaabeg, - the ancient economic corridor of which it was a part, is crossed by the modern economic corridor of the CPR railway, the Trans Canada Highway and the Trans Canada Pipeline. One would be justified in describing this particular area as an important crossroads in the historic routes of Turtle Island and North America. Like all intersections it holds the exciting possibility of gathering strengths from the four directions. But, like all intersections, it also holds the potential for collisions.  What one quickly learns at crossroads is that they are shared space; they are places where we must understand the needs of others who share the space and where the practice of respect and accommodation must prevail. So it is with this site.  Here we find two great paths of history.  Two important stories meet here. I am honoured to witness the respect and accommodation demonstrated by your governments’ mutual approach to this place that is common ground.

Respectfully submitted,