Here is some good news for those of you contemplating a cruise into Canada next year, whether doing the Loop, the Little Loop, the Downeast Loop or otherwise. Parks Canada, which runs the recreational canals in Canada, recently announced that it will waive lockage fees in the canals it operates for the whole 2017 season. This is a companion piece to its earlier waiver of entrance fees to the national parks it operates in Canada and is a gesture to mark the 150th anniversary of the establishment of Canada as an independent country, which occurred in 1867. This will offer significant savings to cruisers. The canals are the Trent Severn, the Rideau and the Chambly Canal north of Lake Champlain. Also included are the Carillon and the Ste Anne de Bellevue locks in the Ottawa River and the Lachine Canal in Montreal. (The Lachine Canal has very low air draft and is not suitable for most cruising boats.) Parks Canada does not charge lockage for the other locks operated by it, at Sault Ste Marie to enter Lake Superior and St. Peters on Cape Breton Island. Note that the lockage fee waiver does not include the mooring fees that Parks Canada charges for overnight tie-ups at its locks, nor does it include lockage fees for the big ship locks on the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Welland Canal, which are operated by the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority. Happy Cruising! J.E. Fordyce Toronto ON Adagio I Kadey Krogen 48 Whaleback Currently stored at Southwest Harbor Maine