Federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff is courting future St. Catharines voters with a promise to recognize their past.

The Opposition leader pledged a Liberal government’s support — and maybe federal cash — toward a historic designation of the region’s old and new Welland Canals.

After the election-style Liberal Express tour rolled into Merritton Friday, Ignatieff told a packed seniors centre about his visit to parts of the current and remnant canals in St. Catharines with local historians.

“What they’re saying is, ‘designate this as a national historic site.’ You bet we will,” he said to cheers and applause. “This is a good project.”

For years, canal advocates and municipal politicians have been angling for a “heritage corridor” designation for all three remnant canals plus the current, operating industrial waterway. Proponents hope to use the federal recognition as a springboard for canal cleanup, new tourism and development.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. has voiced concerns, however, about how the designation might limit commercial operation of the industrial canal.

Ignatieff didn’t say specifically how a Liberal government might navigate that conflict, or help convince an independent Parks Canada committee to designate the corridor.

All previous requests to designate parts of the old canals have been turned down.

But after the town hall meeting, Ignatieff said designation should be just the “first step.” He said that recognition should be followed “bit by bit” by an injection of federal cash and the creation of parkland around more of the old canals.

Niagara Falls Conservative MP Rob Nicholson wasn’t impressed with Ignatieff’s local call-to-arms over history, suggesting the current government is walking the talk on heritage preservation.

“Under our administration, we’ve designated and supported a number of different places (in Niagara),” he said, pointing to new money for Willowbank in Queenston, a historical recognition for War of 1812 hero Laura Secord and the current revitalization of Fort George.

‘Anyone who drives by Fort George can see federal money at work,” he said.

Nicholson wouldn’t venture a guess at the likelihood of a heritage designation for Niagara’s crumbling canals, but said he’s “supportive of every effort to recognize the historical importance of the Welland Canal.”

Rene Ressler figures Ignatieff’s pledge proves restoring the old canals “is a bipartisan issue.”

Ressler, who runs the Welland Canals Advocate website, said he’s hiked portions of the remnant waterways with both Andrew Gill, the federal Liberal candidate for St. Catharines, and Bruce Timms, a former provincial Conservative candidate.

“They’ve really got a passion for the old canals and heritage,” he said. “It really does cross political lines, and that’s good, because I think most people here think this (designation) is something that needs to happen sooner rather than later.”

via Ignatieff on board for canals designation – St. Catharines Standard – Ontario, CA.