Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Dewey, Mr. Frost, Mr. Moses, Mr. Saunders, Distinguished Guests, and Citizens of Canada and the United States:

It is a great honor to be invited to Massena today to break ground on this canal, and on this new chapter in the long history of peaceful, parallel progress which has characterized the shared history of our two nations for more than a century.

Our path, our march of progress, has been ever-joined with the sense of aspiration inherent in our settler ancestors. It was they, and their sons and the sons of their sons, who cleared the forests and settled the prairies, crossed the Rockies and spanned the continent we share, from sea to shining sea. They did this side by side, without the crossing of swords or the exchange of gunfire, content to build their destinies independently, but also together. Our border, that parallel we share, today the longest in the world, attests to this remarkable achievement.

The newest generations of Americans and Canadians have continued to forge their paths side-by-side, with ever-increasing boldness and dedication. Twice now, our nations have been joined in armed struggle, the most recent time fought together at every corner of the Earth. But we are peaceful people, and our interests have always lain with that same old pioneer spirit — to make the Earth good for man, to tame its wildernesses and from them form the means of a good life, that has always been our goal. It is only the breadth of our perspective that has changed, our knowledge that the livelihoods of our own lay intertwined with those of every man around the globe.

We are here today to open a great North American waterway. When it is complete, some 2,300 miles of navigation channels, locks, and canals, from Duluth to Quebec, will link the oceans of the world with our own Great Lakes. And again we stand here, parallel. Independent, but joined, as democratic nations pursuing together that great mission of peace and prosperity. All of our ingenuity, the achievements of our architects and engineers, the efforts of our workmen and of the many far-sighted people who brought this project to fruition, have brought us to this point.

Our story does not stop here. Time, and progress, like the very waters we gaze upon today, must flow ever onwards. This particular project is but our own chapter, one whose pages we must fill so that the next generation can rise above what we have accomplished here today. But the example we set, that of the fruits possible through cooperation among free nations, will stand here for that next generation, and, God willing, for the next and the next after that, for as long as our two peoples are willing and able to face the future together.

Thank you.

The U.S. Congress has authorized $120 million for the US portion of the St. Lawrence Seaway Project — that is, the two locks on the New York-Ontario border. These locks will be constructed to “Panamax” dimensions (1050 x 110 x 41.2 feet), enabling even the largest ocean-going ships to make the journey up the lakes as far as the Niagara Falls.

Key to the project will be the Long Sault dam, intended to submerge the Sault Rapids which make the “Thousand Islands” portion of the St. Lawrence from Kingston to Massena more or less unnavigable. The dam will be jointly funded by New York and Ontario, with the 32 power generators of the dam split evenly between Ontario Hydro and the New York Power Authority.

In total, some seven locks will be constructed between Montreal and Kingston, five Canadian and two American. In addition to the $120 million put forward by the US Federal Government and the estimated $600 million which will be spent on the hydroelectric dam and associated works (with a great deal of the cost covered by American and Canadian loans and grants to the respective local authority), another $300 million or so will have to be spent by the Canadians to construct their portion of the seaway. In total, some $1 billion will be spent to develop the length of the upper St. Lawrence.

The actual administration of the Seaway (or at least the American portions) will be pawned off to a pseudo-private corporation, the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. While wholly owned by the US government, the corporation will take on all the construction costs as debt, with the mandate to set fares at sufficient levels to pay back the project in 50 years. Whether this is feasible is… unclear, given the most reliable stream of revenue comes from the locally-owned hydro facilities.

In order to maximize the usefulness of the (very expensive) Panamax-dimension locks and navigation channels on the upper river, Canada has committed to rebuilding the Welland Canal in the near future as a system of four equally Panamax sized locks. Further down the Great Lakes System, the US Army Corps of Engineers will make preparations to begin dredging the St. Marys, St. Clair, and Detroit Rivers to the requisite 41.2 foot depth, and to expand the Poe Lock at Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan to the same 1050 x 110 x 41.2 ft dimensions.