Editing Channel-Port aux Basques (section)

==History==
Channel was settled by fisher-folk from the [[Channel Islands]] in the early 1700s. Port aux Basques refers to the harbour that was a favoured sheltering and watering place for [[Basques|Basque]] whalers who hailed from the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque region]] of Spain during the early 16th century.  After leaving the harbour the [[whaling|whalers]] either proceeded to the main whaling grounds off southern Labrador, or headed home to the Basque country. They almost certainly took on fresh water from Dead Man's Brook, which flows into Port aux Basques harbour, during their stopovers.

Port aux Basques is first seen on a 1687 [[Johannes van Keulen]] map of the area. Permanent settlement came from French fishermen who overwintered on this, the [[French Shore]], using rights given under the 1713 [[Peace of Utrecht|Treaty of Utrecht]] which saw France cede its claims in Newfoundland to Great Britain in exchange for right of use of coastal lands for the fishery. With the fishery being the economic mainstay for both French and British settlers in the area, Channel-Port aux Basques<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://visitnewfoundland.ca/channelportauxbasques.html |title=Channel – Port aux Basques |access-date=2006-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061013133051/http://visitnewfoundland.ca/channelportauxbasques.html |archive-date=2006-10-13 }}</ref> appeared destined to remain a collection of small fishing villages.

In 1856, an underwater telegraph cable <ref>{{cite web| url=http://visitnewfoundland.ca/telegraph.html|title=Before Marconi – The St. John's to New York Telegraph Cable |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061013133234/http://visitnewfoundland.ca/telegraph.html |archive-date=2006-10-13}}</ref>  was successfully laid between Newfoundland and [[Cape Breton Island]], making landfall nearby. This was the first step in the race to complete a [[Transatlantic telegraph cable|trans-Atlantic telegraph cable]]. A telegraph station was opened in Port aux Basques in 1857.

In the 1880s, the [[Government of Canada]] erected a lighthouse at nearby [[Cape Ray, Newfoundland and Labrador|Cape Ray]] which, despite being in the then-separate British [[Newfoundland Colony|colony of Newfoundland]], was considered a navigation hazard for vessels bound for Canadian ports in the [[Gulf of Saint Lawrence]].

In 1893, it was decided to extend the western terminus of the [[Newfoundland Railway]] (then under construction west from the [[Avalon Peninsula]] by [[Robert Gillespie Reid|Robert G. Reid]]) from [[St. George's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. George's]] to Port aux Basques harbour.  By 1897 the tracks reached Port aux Basques, although the harbour facilities had not been built at that time to handle the steamer ''Bruce'', which had been built in Scotland and had arrived in Newfoundland several months earlier.  While the required docks were constructed, the ''Bruce'' operated between Little Placentia Sound and [[North Sydney, Nova Scotia]] from October, 1897 until June, 1898.
[[Image:Williamcarson.jpg|thumb|The Marine Atlantic superferry [[MV Caribou|MV ''Caribou'']] at North Sydney, with the smaller and older MV ''Ambrose Shea'' docked alongside her, seen in the late 1980s]]

On June 30, 1898, the first passenger train arrived in Port aux Basques, and ''Bruce'' departed for North Sydney shortly afterward.  Over the years, the narrow gauge Newfoundland Railway expanded both the number of trains and vessels which called at Port Aux Basques.  In 1925 the steamer [[SS Caribou|SS ''Caribou'']] began service.  She was attacked and sunk by the [[German submarine U-69 (1940)]] on 14 October 1942 with a loss of 137 lives, some from the Port aux Basques area. There were 20 widows from ''Caribou'' sinking in the Port aux Basques area.

The town of Channel-Port aux Basques was incorporated in 1945 with Samuel (Sam) Walters as the first mayor.<ref name="HS">Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, ''[https://www.stats.gov.nl.ca/Publications/Historical/PDF/Historical_Statistics_of_Newfoundland_and_Labrador_V2_N5_1988.pdf Historical Statistics of Newfoundland and Labrador]'', Vol. 2, Newfoundland and Labrador, 1998, table A-9.</ref> In 1964 the community of Mouse Island was annexed.<ref name="HS"/>

On March 31, 1949, Newfoundland entered into [[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]] and the railway was transferred to [[Canadian National Railway]].  Under Term 32 of the Terms of Union between Canada and Newfoundland (1949), the ferry service between North Sydney, Nova Scotia and Port aux Basques, Newfoundland was guaranteed, first under the [[British North America Acts|British North America Act]] and after 1982 under the [[Constitution of Canada]].<ref>[http://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/nfa.html Newfoundland Act]</ref>

Upon CNR's assumption of the railway and ferry service, the 1950s saw extensive construction at Port aux Basques with expansion of new [[Dock (maritime)|dock]] facilities and the arrival of newer and larger ships such as the [[MV William Carson|MV ''William Carson'']]. Extensive blasting of rock created space for large [[rail yard]]s with extensive [[dual gauge]] trackage. The excess rock was then used as fill to create the required docks. By the mid-1960s, new [[Train ferry|railcar-capable ferries]] such as the [[MV Frederick Carter|MV ''Frederick Carter'']] permitted the [[Bogie exchange|exchange]] of [[Standard-gauge railway|standard gauge]] railcars, requiring further expansion at the Port aux Basques terminal facilities.

The mid-1960s also saw the completion of the [[Newfoundland and Labrador Route 1|Trans-Canada Highway]] across Newfoundland, an event which eventually led to the closure of the railway by 1988, but which made Port aux Basques into an even more important gateway to the island of Newfoundland, given the increased number of tourists visiting the province, and the rising amount of truck traffic.  New [[Roll-on/roll-off#RORO Variations|Ro-Pax]]-capable vessels were commissioned and/or chartered during the 1960s–1980s to meet the growing demand, such as ''Marine Nautica'', ''Marine Atlantica'', ''Marine Evangeline'', ''Ambrose Shea'', and ''John Hamilton Gray''.

With the abandonment of the railway, extensive rebuilding of Port aux Basques terminal resulted in expansive marshalling areas for waiting motor vehicle traffic.  A [[Plant pathology|plant disease]] inspection station operated by the [[Canadian Food Inspection Agency]] is located on site, as well as a modern rebuilt railway station now used as a passenger terminal for the ferry service operated by [[Marine Atlantic]], which was renamed from [[CN Marine]] in 1986.  Port aux Basques harbour used to host the arrival of the two largest [[icebreaker|icebreaking]] ferries in Canada at the time, the {{MV|Caribou}} and {{MV|Joseph and Clara Smallwood}} both of which were retired and decommissioned in 2011.

===Hurricane Fiona===
In September 2022, the town was partially evacuated due to [[Hurricane Fiona]].<ref>{{cite web |title='Total devastation' as Port aux Basques declares state of emergency due to post-tropical storm Fiona |date=2022-09-24 |website=[[CBC News]] |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230719200303/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/hurricane-fiona-nl-saturday-1.6594422 |archive-date=2023-07-19 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/hurricane-fiona-nl-saturday-1.6594422}}</ref> Over 100 homes were reportedly washed away from the wind and storm surge in Newfoundland with a bulk of the homes being from the town.<ref>{{cite web |title=Furey says nearly 100 homes in southwestern Newfoundland destroyed, cost of damage unclear |date=2022-09-27 |website=[[CBC News]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015062327/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/furey-hutchings-port-aux-basques-fiona-1.6596063 |archive-date=2022-10-15 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/furey-hutchings-port-aux-basques-fiona-1.6596063}}</ref> Many locals of the town claimed that it was the worst storm they’ve ever seen, and a community changing event. The town declared a state of emergency on September 24, 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title='Total devastation' as Port aux Basques declares state of emergency due to post-tropical storm Fiona |date=2022-09-24 |website=[[CBC News]] |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230719200303/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/hurricane-fiona-nl-saturday-1.6594422 |archive-date=2023-07-19 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/hurricane-fiona-nl-saturday-1.6594422}}</ref> On September 26, 2022, RCMP confirmed a 73-year-old Port aux Basques woman was killed after being swept out into the ocean.<ref>{{cite web |title=Port aux Basques woman was swept to sea while preparing to leave her home, RCMP says |date=2022-09-26 |website=[[CBC News]] |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221118212559/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/fiona-rcmp-port-aux-basques-woman-killed-1.6595767 |archive-date=2022-11-18 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/fiona-rcmp-port-aux-basques-woman-killed-1.6595767}}</ref> Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province with a confirmed loss of life directly related to the storm.