Toggle search bar

WxT Language switcher

Peter Labor receives a Canadian River Stewardship Award

Date

Peter Labor receives a Canadian River Stewardship Award

On September 20th, 2023, we had the honour of presenting the 2023 Canadian River Stewardship Award to two amazing individuals, Peter Labor and Molly Demma. This award is presented every three years to individuals or organizations who have made a significant contribution to the stewardship of a Canadian Heritage River or to the Canadian Heritage Rivers System program as a whole. In this article, we highlight the contributions of Peter Labor to the Canadian Heritage Rivers System. You can find a similar article on Molly Demma here.

Peter Labor in front of a river. // Peter Labor devant une rivière.
Photo credits: Peter Labor

Peter’s involvement with the Canadian Heritage Rivers System dates back to the late 1980s starting with the Sir Alexander Mackenzie Canada Sea-to-Sea Expeditions. Alexander Mackenzie was the first European to cross what is now known as Canada overland. In the 1980’s, a group from Lakehead University set out to do the same. It took them four years to canoe over 11,000km through multiple shorter expeditions. Peter canoed from Fort McMurray to Inuvik as a student. Then, he paddled from Montreal to Winnipeg, Winnipeg to Peace River, and Peace River to Bella Coola as Assistant Expedition Leader. During these trips, he got to explore eight rivers that are now designated as Canadian Heritage Rivers: the Athabasca, the Clearwater, the Fraser, the French, Ottawa/Kitchisippi/Kitchi Sipi, the Red, and the St. Mary’s rivers and the Boundary Waters-Voyageur Waterway.

Throughout his career with the Government of Nova Scotia, Peter was a remarkable champion of the CHRS program. He represented Nova Scotia as part of the Canadian Heritage Rivers System for over 20 years. From 2000 to 2023, Peter acted as a Technical Planning Committee member, then as a board member, and finally, board chair. He built strong relationships across government and with stakeholders, including with the Canadian Canoe Museum, while leading the renewal of the CHRS awards program. Peter worked closely with local communities and river managers to support them in all aspects of their work and encouraged his staff to do the same. Most notably, in 2020, he led the development of CHRS’ latest strategic plan focusing on reconciliation with Indigenous peoples as its number one priority.

Peter acted as a mentor to those around him. Whether he was guiding his staff and helping them advance reconciliation activities, championing the Canadian Heritage Rivers System program, or supporting local communities, he was always ready and willing to share advice, his knowledge, and the history of the program. Peter has created a legacy of passionate heritage river practitioners who strive to do better in all aspects of their work.

In Nova Scotia, Peter has encouraged me as the [Technical Planning Committee] representative to look at creative ways of doing real on the ground reconciliation with our Indigenous Communities. He has been vital in providing suggestions on how to work with local communities, and who to seek out from organizations. Peter is a leader who really walked the talk in all aspects of his work and is a strong advocate for reconciliation. – Helen Smith, Technical Planning Committee member for Nova Scotia.