From Wade MacLauchlan’s biography of Alex Campbell:
When it came time to choose a name for the new fixed link, Alex Campbell, by then a justice of the PEI Supreme Court, was asked to chair the panel. After considering hundreds of submissions, Campbell’s committee recommended the name Abegweit Crossing, referring to the original and affectionate Mi’kmaq name for the Island, meaning “cradled on the waves.” The federal government did not accept the recommendation, preferring the name Confederation Bridge. This was not the first time that Alex Campbell had his advice and sense of place overridden by perceived national interests.
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Comments
Timely Post. The people of
Timely Post. The people of Prince Edward Island should push the 4 members of Parliament to do the right thing and work towards what the local committee requested. If the Federal Government won't honour the original agreement where we would have free access to the mainland. The least they could do is change the name.
Neat....and too bad. Aside
Neat....and too bad. Aside from all the other reasons...it sounds much nicer.
That is a pity, as the ferry
That is a pity, as the ferry that crossed at the same location between Borden PEI and Cape Tormentine NB was called the MV Abegweit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Abegweit_(1982)
Abegweit would have been a perfect name for the bridge as a continuation for the former transportation link. (a sad history to the final MV Abegweit also at the wikipedia, though its predecessor may have had had a better end use. )
AND https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederation_Bridge
the crossing area is the Abegweit Passage of the Northumberland Strait.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abegweit_Passage
FYI: The PM at the time was Jean Chrétien
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