(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

In the 1990s, Aeroplan (Air Canada’s loyalty program) had some great deals. The cheapest reward level would let you fly from anywhere in Ontario to anywhere in Quebec. Well, I found a nifty itinerary: a five-flight (!) odyssey from Kingston, Ontario, to Harrington Harbour, Quebec.

As one of my long-time friends had recently moved to Harrington Harbour, I took the opportunity to visit on the May 23 (Victoria Day) weekend. I flew from (1) Kingston to Toronto, (2) Toronto to Montreal, (3) Montreal to Sept-Iles, (4) Sept-Iles to Chevery (an 11-seat plane with a stop in Natashquan), and (5) Chevery to Harrington Harbour (by helicopter). Whew! I certainly maximized my frequent flyer reward on this trip.

Harrington Harbour is a small fishing village (current population 205) on the remote North Shore of the St. Lawrence River. While it lies in Quebec, it is very close to the Labrador border…and it really felt like a Newfoundland outport. English is the spoken language, and the accent is similar to what you hear in rural Newfoundland.

While my itinerary was challenging, I did not have too much choice. Harrington Harbour is on an island near the mainland village of Chevery. But, even today, neither one is reachable by road. The only real choices are travelling by air or, between April and January, by boat. As you can see from the photos, there was still some snow on the ground even though summer was less than a month away.

As there are no roads to Harrington Harbour, there really isn’t a need for big cars and trucks. And there really aren’t streets either. Instead, there is a network of boardwalks upon which smaller vehicles (like ATVs) can navigate the rocky terrain. When the ships can’t access the town in the winter, neighbouring communities are accessible by snowmobile.

By 1999, I still hadn’t visited any of Canada’s northern territories. But when I look at the Harrington Harbour pictures now, I see a little bit of Nunavut in the rocky, treeless landscape. When you look at a map, this begins to make sense. Harrington Harbour is almost as far north as James Bay.

As a rare visitor from Ontario, I was welcomed into the community for a couple of special events. The first was a volleyball game. As with my high school exchange to Hinton, Alberta, this was a sport that everybody in Canada seemed to play.

I also took part in the Victoria Day festivities. As you can see, a serious bonfire was built and it burned for quite a long time.

While those activities were boisterous, it wasn’t hard to escape into complete silence. There aren’t any other communities on the island, so you can walk in pretty much any direction and be completely alone in the very northern landscape.

It is not easy for remote communities like Harrington Harbour to retain population. Having road access would likely create more opportunities and make it easier to keep people around. But, for now, there is still a 375 km gap east of Kegaska that is not accessible by road. I am not aware of a completion date for the extension of Route 138.

Stay tuned for more Canadian flashbacks…and, before too long, my spring trip to France!