Transcription: "The St. Lawrence River, the jugular vein of Quebec"

This page includes the written transcript of this podcast, translated into English.

Imagine a watercraft that takes you from the mouth of Lake Ontario to Gaspé. A 1200 kilometre journey where you cross, on each shore, other paths of great white water: Oswegatchie River in the state of New York; Raisin River in Ontario; then, once in Quebec, a vast array of rivers with names like Chateauguay, Richelieu, Saint-Maurice, Batiscan, Chaudière, Saguenay, Mitis, Manicouagan... Dozens of tributary rivers flowing towards the big river, themselves fed by hundreds of other tributaries. Around 4,500 of them in Quebec. A large part of this blue gold ends up here, in this majestic waterway flowing before our eyes. The St. Lawrence began to exist about 10,000 years ago, with the great melting of the last ice age. However, it took its present form barely 3,000 years ago. It is said to be the youngest river on earth. It has not yet had time to carve out a bed for itself; instead it flows flush with the landscape, in a gap in the earth's crust formed during the melting of the glaciers.

At high tide, a powerful wave spreads westward from Cabot Strait, located between the islands of Newfoundland and Cape Breton. This wave reaches L'Islet-sur-Mer about 30 hours later. There are two tides per day, the height of which varies according to the lunar gravitational force for the first and the centrifugal force for the second. At L'Islet, the highest tides of the year can reach seven metres, but they average four metres. The depth and width of the river determine the appearance of these tides in the landscape. In 2017, the Quebec government designated the very first historic site under the Cultural Heritage Act. Yes, you guessed it: the St. Lawrence River received this honour.