Appreciation of honour of being invited to open the Prince Albert National Park.

It is indeed a rare privilege, and one which I appreciate more deeply than I can express in words, to be able to assist today in the formal opening of the new national park which bears the name of the constituency I have the honour to represent in the Parliament of Canada. Of the many interesting features of my present visit to Western Canada, I can assure you that none has appealed to me more strongly than the prospect of seeing with my own eyes this new link in the splendid system of national parks which Parliament has set aside for the enjoyment of the present and future generations of the Canadian people.

From time to time during the past two years, I have had the pleasure of conversations with Mr. Wood, the Acting Superintendent of the Park, and with others who are actively interested in its development. This has enabled me to visualize in some degree the progress of the work and the general plan of improvement it was proposed to make in the area set apart for park purposes.

I realize now, however, that my mental picture of the park was entirely inadequate. In its extent, in its beauty, and in the diversity of its resources, the Prince Albert National Park has exceeded my highest expectations. The rare charm of its scenery can only be fully appreciated by one who has travelled through it as I have done during the past two days. It has been a unique and unforgettable experience and I am more than indebted to those who made it possible for me to spend such a delightful sojourn in the heart of the majestic forests of Northern Saskatchewan.

Origin of the Proposal to create a National Park in Prince Albert

It is but fitting that I should take advantage of this occasion to recall the circumstances which led to the creation of a national park in the Province of Saskatchewan. The first suggestions having this object in view go back to the request which was made three years ago for the establishment of an additional buffalo reserve in Western Canada. It was emphasized that Saskatchewan had many areas suitable for this purpose and it was also pointed out that with the creation of such a reserve provision might also be made for a recreation resort for the people of the province. In the following year, however, a more ambitious proposal took form when a number of prominent residents of the province, including the Honourable T.C. Davis, Minister of Labour and Industries, urged the desirability of setting apart a scenic area which would serve not merely the recreational needs of the people of Saskatchewan, but would attract visitors from other parts of the Dominion and help to inform them of the scenic advantages and splendid natural resources of this northern territory.

In 1926, the Honourable T.C. Davis submitted a memorandum recommending the Sturgeon Forest Reserve as being most suitable for the purpose in view. Here an area could be secured, without encroaching on agricultural land available for settlement, which had many of the natural features essential for a recreational park - ease of access, beautiful lakes, fine shady beaches, good fishing, natural breeding grounds for wildlife of many kinds, diversified scenery, rolling and well-wooded country, and a comparatively high elevation.

Its greatest attraction, moreover, was its abundant waterways which opened the way indefinitely to the north and east and afforded access to a large portion of the northern territory of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba. Following the presentation of this memorandum, Mr. Davis and Mr. Charles McDonald paid a visit to Ottawa and urged most strongly that an aerial survey of the proposed district should be undertaken in the following summer.

On March 26, 1927, an Order in Council was passed providing for the provisional reservation of more than thirteen hundred square miles of territory, covering approximately thirty townships, as Prince Albert National Park. During the past eighteen months the Parks Branch of the Department of the Interior has been engaged in making such improvements in the park area as seemed necessary and desirable in order to make the greatest possible use of its magnificent natural endowments. That the officials of the Parks Branch have succeeded in their undertaking is abundantly evident today. They, together with the originators of the proposal, deserve our heartiest congratulations for the notable success which has attended their efforts.

Historical association of the region to be included in the Park

In addition to its scenic attractions the region in which the Prince Albert Park is situated is rich in its historical associations. In the early days of the fur trade, its waters afforded the route of travel for trader and trapper as well as for some of the intrepid explorers who opened up the northern wilderness of Canada to trade and settlement and blazed the trail for the expansion of the Dominion across the prairies to the western ocean. Fort a la Come, about sixty miles east of Prince Albert, is linked with the names of de la Verendrye and the French fur traders. The Fort itself was built in 1753 by Le Guardeur St. Pierre, successor of de la Verendrye.

After the passing of the French regime on the restoration of peace following Pontiac's rebellion, English and Scottish fur traders began to move westward to take over the French fur trade. Across the great plains of Saskatchewan the fur traders followed the numerous river highways and trails to the north and south and west. Frobisher built the first post on Cumberland Lake in 1772 for the interests of the North West Company, and Samuel Hearne, in 1774, constructed Cumberland House for the Hudson's Bay Company. During the early days of the nineteenth century when the epic struggle between these two companies was at its height, this region was the scene of constant activity, and the famous Cumberland House east of the park became a strategic centre from which the Hudson's Bay Company carried on a contest with its energetic rivals for the control of the fur trade. These very lakes and rivers must have echoed the songs of the voyageurs of those early days. These very trails may have been travelled by de la Verendrye, Frobisher, Hearne and Pond.

While the Prince Albert Park is primarily for the purpose of recreation, I think, in view of its unique historical associations, that it should also serve to remind us of the explorers and pioneers of Western Canada and of the romantic chapters in our history which have their origin in the fur trade and pioneer life on the prairies. So far as 1 know there is in Canada today no museum or institution which attempts to preserve for posterity the colourful life of the frontier in the early days of exploration and settlement.

The Value of the Park from the standpoint of Prince Albert and Saskatchewan

To the residents of Prince Albert and the people of the Province of Saskatchewan this new national park cannot fail to bring benefits which will be more fully realized as the years pass. Already, provision has been made for the building of summer cottages along the shores of its beautiful lakes and rivers. In the heat of the summer it will offer a cool retreat from town and city life. Its hills and valleys will relieve the monotonous level of the prairies; children will play on its sandy beaches and wander at will under the shade of its forests; tourists from distant lands will come in increasing numbers to explore its streams and trails. The experience of other national parks in Canada dispels all doubt of the success of this undertaking. Today this vast area of the forest, lake and river becomes one of the playgrounds of the world and, so far as Parliament can decide, will remain so until the end of time.

The Value of National Parks in the light of a growing nation

But apart from its material advantages to the people of Prince Albert and the Province of Saskatchewan, this new park which we open today will serve another and, I think, a higher purpose in the economy of the Canadian nation. In the early period of western settlement both in the United States and in Canada, the seemingly unlimited territory available for colonization led to a failure to fully appreciate that the rapidity of economic change in a mechanical age might soon deprive us of much of the primitive natural beauty of the country. Streams and lakes were valued for their fish, forests for their game and timber, land for its fertility and mineral resources. Natural beauty of scenery was not regarded as an asset in itself. Perhaps the first sign of a change in this attitude in the North American continent appeared in 1879 with the discovery of Yellowstone Park.

Cornelius Hedges, the pioneer of Montana who formed one of the original party which discovered that magnificent region, gave an eloquent expression to the philosophy which lies behind the creation of national parks. It is reported that when the members of the party were discussing the future use of the Yellowstone area Hedges said, "It seems to me that God made this region for all the people and all the world to see and enjoy forever. It is impossible that any individual should think that he could own any of this country for his own and hold in fee. This great wilderness does not belong to us but to America." As a result of the conviction first voiced by Cornelius Hedges, the Yellowstone National Park, the first of its kind on the North American continent, came into being, but although the United States led the way, Canada was soon to follow.

In 1885, when construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway revealed the magnificent scenery of the Canadian Rockies, both parties in the Dominion Parliament united in setting aside the Banff National Park, Canada's first public possession of its kind, an action which was followed soon after by the creation of other reservations of equal beauty. In the building of Canadian national life and in the moulding of our national character, it is of the utmost importance that we should cultivate an appreciation of all that is beautiful in our physical environment. In a young country so amply endowed with material resources, there is always a danger that we may turn to the gods of the market places and sacrifice the beautiful on the altar of utility. To be aware of the danger is a long step towards the application of the remedy. It is indeed cause for deep satisfaction that Canada in her youth has learned the wisdom of conservation. The existence of ten national reservations, covering an extent of more than eleven thousand square miles, is the best possible evidence that the foundations of our country are rooted in the things that endure beyond the life of brick and mortar. A time may come, with the westward advance of population and industry, when this national possession may be threatened with destruction. Should that time ever come, however, I believe that these national parks will have become recognized as such a precious element in our common inheritance that there will be a body of opinion in this country strong enough to withstand every assault on these citadels of nature.

We build today not merely for the present and immediate future but, I trust, for eternity as well. Much has been written on the purpose of the State and of the boundaries between the domains which properly belong to the community and the individual. For my own part, I doubt if we shall ever improve on the conception which had expression in the political philosophy of Aristotle - that the aim of the State was the highest good of the community.

In opening today the Prince Albert National Park, may we not only dedicate it to the glory of the Creator whose bounty it mirrors in forest, lake and stream, but also to the highest good of the Canadian people for all time to come.