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Rideau Canal confirmed to win
UN heritage status Designation to place waterway on list including Taj Mahal, Egypt's pyramids
Steven Edwards and Tobin Dalrymple, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Wednesday, June 27, 2007
UNITED NATIONS - The Rideau Canal will be awarded world heritage status, marking success in Canada's bid to have the landmark recognized internationally as a global cultural icon.
The UN's World Heritage Committee is expected to approve Canada's application today or tomorrow at its current session in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The mood is the committee is impressed with Canada's proposal, said one insider of the 21-nation body, which includes Canada among its members.
The Rideau Canal, pictured here in a view from Carleton University, will be awarded world heritage status, making it a global cutltural icon.View Larger Image View Larger Image
The Rideau Canal, pictured here in a view from Carleton University, will be awarded world heritage status, making it a global cutltural icon.
The list recognizes the world's cultural and natural wonders, and includes such sites as the Egyptian pyramids, India's Taj Mahal and China's Great Wall.
Canada already had 13 sites inscribed on the list, but most are for natural wonders.
The cultural and natural property winners are sites that the cultural agency "considers as having outstanding universal value," says the World Heritage website.
The full nomination of the Ontario landmark includes six elements: the Rideau Canal, Fort Henry and four Martello towers in the Kingston area, all of which played an important role in defending the land more than 100 years ago from invasion.
The committee is a branch of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and is charged with upholding the 1972 Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
Meeting annually to consider nominations, it judges whether sites have "properties of outstanding universal value" that require convention protection. The Canal's superintendent, Gavin Liddy, says winning the top-notch designation will be a cultural boon for the whole country.
"The more we recognize how valuable the Rideau is for Canada, the more easy it will be to make sure this treasure is around for many, many years to come and be enjoyed by all," Mr. Liddy said.
The canal, which is already a national heritage site, was nominated for the designation last year after a French historian and engineering expert from the Universite de Nantes, Michel Cotte, inspected the canal.
Mr. Cotte tabled his report to a UNESCO advisory body that assesses hopeful sites, and argued that the historic canal is a suitable World Heritage Site, canal staff told the Citizen.
Planning began for the Ottawa-Kingston canal in the 1820s, when the British sought a way to bypass the St. Lawrence in the event of a conflict such as the War of 1812 with the United States. It was completed by 1832 after six years of work, supervised by Lt.-Col. John By and the Royal Engineers.
Mr. Liddy, who describes himself as the successor of Lt.-Col. By -- "the canal's first superintendent" -- said he thinks a world-heritage ranking will change people's attitudes toward the location, which is often taken for granted.
"People think of it as a cottage playground in the middle of the city, they don't get the idea that it's a vital element of history," he said.
As a World Heritage Site, people and politicians will be more interested about the "stewardship" of the canal, he added.
Other contenders for the honour include the Sydney Opera House in Australia, Greece's old town of Corfu, and Charles Darwin's London-area home.