How Did The Fall Of The Trans-Canada Highway

In 1962, the opening of the Trans-Canada Highway proved to be a national accomplishment as it connected Canada from coast to coast. Throughout the construction process Canadians struggled to come to an agreement on the end result . There were also endless construction complications, which caused delays. Finally, Canada was forced to open the highway before completion . By conquering the challenges of the Trans-Canada Highway, Canada proved its strength and unity. On 10 December 1949, the Trans Canada Highway act was published which stated that there was going to be a two-lane highway route that would go across Canada. The costs for this highway would be shared between the Federal and Provincial governments. This announcement caused there …show more content…
The plan was for the highway to run through all ten provinces, so without all ten Provinces agreeing the project could not be done. The Provincial governments were saying that it was going to cost too much and the project would take too long. They continued to talk and work out their agreements and then the Federal government decided to increase their share so the provincial governments would become more interested. In the end they agreed on each province being responsible for 50% of the total costs of the part of the highway that was in their province with the Federal government paying the rest. . Along with this, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker agreed to have the federal government pay for all of the costs of the parts of the highway that would have to go …show more content…
It was the day that the Trans-Canada Highway was opened . This was the longest highway in the world, and it crossed six different time zones . The opening was a huge event, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker was there, God Saves the Queen played proudly and it was a huge party. At the event Diefenbaker stated that the highway, “ Represented the triumph of national determination over provincial parochialism and unruly geography .” Canadian’s believed that it was truly amazing that the years of struggle had come to an end, but at the same time they knew that Canada was forced to open the highway before it was actually finished. They did not let this fact wreck the celebration. At the time of the opening, 7770km of road was still un-graveled, leaving there to be still mounds of work to be done . The highway was opened early due to the fact that they needed to start making money off of it. The project was initially majorly underfunded and the set opening date was very delayed. In the beginning the plan was to have the opening in 1956 and six years later they were still not making money off of the project. The Provincial and Federal governments had paid a lot more than what they were expecting, so they knew that having the highway open would bring money in by tourists and by taxes. The governments agreed that opening it early would be the best option. Eventually they finished the highway in 1966 and it now plays a key role in