My Bluewater

This is the story of a small village called Bluewater that grew in the shadow of a large industrtial complex. In 1942 Canada was deeply involved in World War II. The Canadian government decided to build a plant to supply synthetic rubber for the war effort. The port city of Sarnia was selected because there was already a large oil refinery there and it offered the option of using the St. Laurence seaway to deliver goods to the war effort taking place in Europe. The workers had to be recruited from all over Canada. A large proportion of the workers came from Northern Ontario and were French Canadian. They started to build their homes close to the rubber plant called Polymer.
The City of Sarnia encouraged this development at first but eventually realized that the location was not the best. The village became surrounded by new chemical plants which raised concerns about the health of the location. Eventually the City expropriated all the homes and relocated all the people into the city precincts.
For the years when this village was growing, it prospered it became a melting pot of immigrants. There was a strange mixture of bootleggers, variety stores and home industries. It was a predominantly French Canadian community but because of the influx of immigrants, every language could be heard there. For many of the citizens of Sarnia this little community must have seemed like a slum, an undesirable addition to the city. Something to be eliminated so they eventually convinced all levels of government to expropriate.
For the members of that small village it was home and will always be remembered with love. These are the stories of someone who grew up in that little village.