War of 1812 takes centre stage at Cultural Tourism Symposium

Speakers at the Cultural & Heritage Tourism Symposium included Andy Strote, Lionel Gadoury, The Hon. David Crombie, Dr. Ron Williamson, Andrew Weir and Alan Corbiere. Shyam Ranganathan of Centennial College (centre) organized the symposium.

TORONTO, ON—The Blue Barracks and a marquee tent at historic Fort York formed the setting of the third annual Culture and Heritage Tourism Symposium, a departure from its usual location at Centennial College in Scarborough.

The War of 1812 celebrations, which begin just two years from now, provide an opportunity to enhance tourism and specifically, people’s sense of place.  Speakers at the symposium stressed the importance of local co-operation.

Andy Strote and Lionel Gadoury of Context Creative have worked extensively with the Ontario Trails Council and its website, Ontario Trails.on.ca.  The site brings together the entire trail infrastructure. Strote and Gadoury see themselves as catalysts, now populating the site with communities of interest.  They are looking at many initiatives, including fort to fort cycling or running races, art brigades, Hip to History or Feast of Fields walks.

The Hon. David Crombie, former Toronto mayor, talked about the 15-year project to build a waterfront and greenway trail stretching 900 km from Niagara Falls to just inside the Quebec border. The project involves 40 municipalities, 10 conservation authorities, Business Improvement Associations, clubs and ratepayer groups.
 
Crombie too stressed a co-operative strategy rather than the old government method of simply expropriating property. “Recognize that local authorities are in control, and they all have responsibility for their part of the waterfront.  Who owns the trail?  The answer is all of the above—that for us is a major mark of success.”