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CNN Live At Daybreak
Canada Established Niagara Parks Commission in 1885 so All Could Enjoy Falls -- but Barrelers
Aired July 04, 2001 - 07:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Now back to our Independence Day coverage.
CNN's Jeff Flock is joining thousands of visitors at Niagara Falls today. He'll be covering lots of ground there throughout the day, but he is beginning his reports for us on the Canadian side of the falls.
Good morning -- Jeff.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Colleen, this morning -- and you don't get a better view than this: This is the Horseshoe Falls -- the famed Horseshoe Falls -- about close as you can get. Perhaps you can see the beauty, majesty and power of these falls. You get a better perspective, I think, from the camera that we've got placed not far from here, high above the Horseshoe Falls. This is on the top of the Fallsview Marriott, which gives us a real perspective of how big these falls are. And yet, another camera over on the American side in the early morning mist here, that gives you a sense of what the American falls look like.
We will be everywhere today, live and wet, all day long.
We're starting here dry, though, with Brian Merrett, who is the man who runs the Niagara Parks Commission.
Do you ever get tired of looking at this?
BRIAN MERRETT, NIAGARA PARKS COMMISSION: I never get tired of looking at it, Jeff. Every day it's different, every season it's different. It's exciting every day.
FLOCK: Give us some perspective. How much water are we looking at coming over this brink?
MERRETT: Well, to put it in simple terms, you've got a million bathtubs-full a minute going over the falls. A million bathtubs-full a minute.
FLOCK: And the kind of power here, you harness it, obviously, for electric power, which we're going to deal with later in this day, but the beauty of it. MERRETT: Yes, you know, the sound, the power, the view from down here or from the main of the mist, or from above the falls, are all spectacular.
FLOCK: Now, as we look up from where we're standing right here -- and Jeff, maybe you could take a look up -- this has all been carved out by this water. This is, as we speak, eroding this rock, right?
MERRETT: Yes, the falls started back at Lake Ontario centuries ago and has eroded its way to this point in the Niagara region.
FLOCK: And continues to erode today.
MERRETT: And continues to erode every day.
FLOCK: And you showed me -- before we get away, one thing here -- I've got a -- Jeff, are we able to see this? This is -- back off just a little, Brian (ph), if you would. What is this, like a bang in the thing. I thought somebody maybe jumped up there, but what is that from?
MERRETT: Well, a rescue several years ago. A barrel that went over the falls, a stunter, and when we had to pull the barrel up from behind the falls, this is where they had to attach to it and pull it out.
FLOCK: You're not asking people to go over the falls in a barrel.
Brian, thanks very much.
I've got Bart Maves also with me here.
Good morning to you, and thanks for the tremendous access here. Talking about the development that is going on here on the Canadian side of the river -- tremendous.
BART MAVES, PROVINCIAL PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Yes, it has been. I think we've been blessed compared, maybe, to the American side with geology. The valley's been considered to have a bit better review. And we've had some public and private partnerships since about 1885 that have really preserved the park land all around the falls and the Niagara River, and I think that's helped our development.
FLOCK: A lot of our viewers around the world did not know that Niagara Falls, maybe 120 or so years ago, you had to pay to look at the falls. And in fact, people had fences erected you had to look through, correct?
MAVES: That's right, and that's why we established the Niagara Parks Commission and the provincial government in 1885 so it would be a free park for everyone just to come in and come right up to the falls and enjoy. We also got all the salesmen and the barkers away from the falls so you can enjoy the majesty of the falls unimpeded.
FLOCK: Do you ever get tired of looking out there?
MAVES: Never. I come down here all the time still and get recharged on a regular basis.
FLOCK: OK, you say recharged -- before we get away, you were telling me about -- what is it -- negative ions?
MAVES: Yes, falling water produces negative ions, which give a positive feeling to people. This is the greatest abundance of negative ions in the world, and that's why we figure we're the honeymoon capital of the world.
FLOCK: As long as you don't wind up going over the brink yourself, you're in good shape.
MAVES: That's right, Jeff. Stay safe.
FLOCK: Bart Maves, appreciate it. Thank you.
MAVES: My pleasure, Jeff.
FLOCK: Thanks very much to all of you folks here in Canada. We are headed next hour over to the U.S. side, and the first-ever-live report from the hot-air balloon that comes over Niagara. A live report from there. And then close to a scene like this one later in the morning. The Hurricane Deck over on the U.S. side. We'll be right there, up close and personal -- so close you can even touch the water. Stay tuned.
That is the latest from Ontario, Canada, this morning, on this Fourth of July, folks -- back to you.
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