Water and Waterscapes: Some Conflicting Interests‪.‬

History and Significance of Water for the Heritage Estate Water, waterscapes, and activity associated with them are part of the heritage estate of Canada. The beaver, living in an environment created from its industrious building of dams, provided the basis of the fur trade, one of the two staples -- the other being the Atlantic ground fish -- which attracted Europeans to what was to become Canada (Innis, 1956; 1978). The coureurs de bois and voyageurs used the rivers and lakes to cross the country in the search for furs. The posts or factories of the Hudson's Bay Company also were established on rivers, lakes or coastal shores to facilitate trade (Newman, 1985).