Tourism

A concrete phenomenon

That is clear, that a wide-reaching bridge on the Saguenay river would open up the North Shore and Labrador region. Let say the simple word "San Francisco" and what comes to mind? Without a doubt the famous Golden bridge. Suspension bridge at the river mouth of the Saguenay would transform that site into "place of interest" for the tourism industry, starting with the internationals ferries to the general international tourism. Such as all the suspension bridges in the world, they clearly attract the onlookers. As a result, more jobs and a positive effect on the tourism income.

Actually, the picking point of the tourism on the North Shore region is summer and that match the saturation period of the ferries. The actual tourism industry for the region is actually handled but the neighbouring regions, transforming the tourists into a cruise passenger into the North Shore for an hour or two to pass by Tadoussac and then return to the neighbouring region. 

In 2014, around 93 000 tourists visited the North Shore and that number could easily increase due to the new bridge on the Saguenay river. A spectacular bridge at the entrance to that forgotten region would clearly improve the tourism sector, as an exemple, the Prince Edward island grew 64% of it's tourism profit since the Confederation bridge in 1997 got build and it stayed constant since. The potential of growth of the tourism industry can clearly be measured for the north east canadian region. Without having to wait at the ferry or drive on that inconvenient road, the worldwide tourism industry simply can be interested in that "untouch land" that is the "Canadian Far East " (Côte-Nord and Labrador).

 Tranquility

L'hotel Tadoussac, photo par Donna Peng, via Flickr

The benefits for the resident of Tadoussac and Baie-Ste-Catherine can be measured by the elimitation of the noice, vibration, smell, pollution related to the ferries and the cars. The life quality of the resident and the visitors would improve and the bridge would make the village a soother place and free of those congestions of cars in peak times.

Une route suspendue dans un paysage attrayant

By Michel Villeneuve (Monolithes de L'Archipel de Mingan/AP-334)

The use of ferry boats to cross Quebec rivers is a means of transport of bygone days. Today, the engineers of the firm SNC-Lavalin which was responsible for the last impact study, assure us that in the actual state of their science, the construction of a bridge over the Saguenay River does not represent any particular technological challenge. The environmentalists remind us of the exceptional beauty of the site; something the people of the North Shore and Labrador recognize more than anyone. Finally, certain politicians just oriented towards the management of the day to day finances could be inclined to delay "to the last minute" the inevitable construction of a bridge. To the point where they could argue about the pure and simple disappearance of the Canadian Northeast region as we know it in order to establish a "Siberian" model of development. A model where the occupation of the region and the quality of life of its inhabitants would be abandoned for the creation of work camps which would be maintained for the benefit of a few large resource extracting industries, like at the beginning of the last century.

In fact, the people of the North Shore and Labrador know the importance of a road link connecting them to the rest of the continent and share the point of view of those of the political world who have a real vision of the future for the region, their provinces and the country. Several places in the world reflect the benefits of combining human genius and exceptional sites. The example of the "Golden Gate" Bridge in San Francisco, of its major impact on the economic development of the area, of its beauty in an exceptional landscape remind us that the advancement of a country is done through a vision of the future.

Considering the high increase in actual costs of the ferry service, its growing negative impacts on the smoothness of traffic flow and the safety of the road link and on the competitiveness of businesses in the Canadian Northeast, here is a "world class" opportunity to open up the Canadian Northeast to the rest of the continent, bring about long-term economic growth while at the same time creating an appealing and exceptional tourist attraction for at least the next 100 years which is the minimum lifespan of the bridge planned for over the Saguenay River.