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The History of the CHS Central & Arctic Region
1963-1969
A new home for Central Region (1971 CHS Conference by T.D.W. McCulloch)
The Central Region of Marine Sciences Branch was created in 1963, and operated under the able generalship of Mr. Mike Bolton until May 1968. In the early days the Region based itself in 615 Booth Street, Ottawa, practically indistinguishable from the mass of Headquarters Units based there. It must have been a difficult time for an operational group attempting to achieve a sense of identity. By 1965, the Region had found a new location at Elgin and Somerset and was finally out under the inhibiting atmosphere of headquarters.
In the beginning, the region was involved in mainly a hydrographic charting programme within the regional boundaries which, at that time, stretched from Matane, P.Q. in the east to the Mackenzie-Athabasca River system in the west and into the Arctic Islands through the hydrographic party attached to the Polar Continental Shelf Project. However, by 1966, units of the region were managing the Lake Surveillance field program on Lakes Ontario and Erie, collecting monitoring data for the limnological and limnogeological studies being undertaken by the then Great Lakes Division of the new Inland Waters Branch, Health and Welfare Department and the Fisheries Research Board on behalf of the International Joint Council. In 1966 such activities required the use of one chartered vessel BRANDEL. By 1967, two chartered vessels BRANDEL and THERON plus two launches.
Construction of LIMNOS, a 147 foot limnological research vessel, and several large launches, in addition to the growing role of the hydrographers, appeared to indicate that the region would be well advised to move to the site of the proposed Canada Centre for Inland Waters at the earliest opportunity. In 1967 plans to move the region to Burlington, Ontario were shelved temporarily and the management of the Lake Surveillance Programme was transferred to Inland Waters Branch. Mr. H.B. Macdonald transferred to the Lakes Division when a new section, known as Technical Operations was created to take over the function formerly played by Central Region.
In May 1968 Mr. Bolton transferred to British Columbia and Mr. T.D.W. McCulloch was appointed Regional Director. Also in 1968, Central Region was housed in City Centre in a building shared with the Polar Continental Shelf Project of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.
In the Department’s program to combine multidisciplinary talent, that is the integration of hydrography and marine science specialists (hydrographers, oceanographers and marine geo-scientists) in a shared building, plans were reactivated to relocate Central Region to Burlington, Ontario in 1969. Another potential site for relocation was Kingston, Ontario but the building site and sufficient wharfage were not adequate in size.
Hydrographic Surveys
1965
St. Lawrence River, Trois Rivieres to Quebec City
Chuck Leadman
Gerry Wade
Bob Golding
Ron Logan
1968
Trent Severn Waterway
H-I-C A. Quirk
M. Kelly, D. Nesbitt, R. Moulton, G. Goldsteen, J. Statham, B. Eidsforth, B. Waldock (electronics), 2 students
Lake-of-the-Woods
H-I-C B. Wright
E. Waugh, K. Daeschel, G. Macdonald, V. Crowley, R. Treciokas, G. Grummel (electronics), 2 students
Georgian Bay
H-I-C E. Brown
P. Richards, J. McCarthy, E. Thompson, K. Hipkin, W. Silvey, M. Grant, 2 students
St. Lawrence River
H-I-C J.I. Robichaud
N. Bohatyretz, P. Page, N. Stuifbergen, L. Lasnier, P. Dal Bianco
Ottawa River
H-I-C A. Rogers
G. Wade, M. Casey, R. Chapeskie, J. Wilson, J. Kean, 3 students
Revisory
H-I-C R. Marshall
A. Curtis
Polar Continental Shelf Project
H-I-C G. Yeaton
H. Pulkkinen, P. Davies, R. Mahaffy
Rotation
B. Leadman, F. Hall, R. Courtnage, J. O’Shea, N. Anderson, R. Golding, B. Macdonald
1969
Lower St. Lawrence River
H-I-C A. Kerr
N. Stuifbergen
Batiscan
H-I-C J.I Robichaud
G. Goldsteen
Rideau River
H-I-C R. Golding
E. Thompson
Lake-of-the-Woods
H-I-C C. Leadman
C. Nesbitt
Upper Ottawa River
H-I-C G. Wade
J. Statham
Revisory
H-I-C R. Marshall
R. Moulton
Navigational Ranges
H-I-C J. O’Shea
J. Kean
PCSP
H-I-C G. Yeaton
H. Pulkinnen
Rotation – A. Rogers, E. Brown, B. Wright, V. Crowley, G. Macdonald, A. Quirk