M.S. Norgoma to Owen Sound proposal scrapped by Transport Canada

The proposed relocation of the M.S. Norgoma to Owen Sound has been all but sunk by the federal government. 

The municipality received a rejection letter last week from Transport Canada, which owns the harbour in that community. In a letter dated March 24, Patricia Moniz, manager of airports and ports real property for Transport Canada, informed the city of Owen Sound that the pitch from Tobermory Real Estate Investors Inc. (TREII) doesn’t mesh with its unspecified plans for the port. 

“We regret to advise that we cannot support the proposal at this time as it is not compatible with our land management considerations at the port. These considerations include carrying out due diligence and other work in support of a future divestiture of the port pursuant to our Port Asset Transfer Program,” reads the letter. “While we support commercial, heritage, and other activities conducive to a working port, we consider that the permanent emplacement of a large historic vessel within the inner harbour does not align with our plan for the port at this time.”

Councillor Richard Thomas, who serves as the chair of the community development, tourism and culture advisory committee for the municipality, says the rejected proposal shows a “lack of vision” on the part of Transport Canada. 

“Now the interesting thing about that is, as far as we’re aware here in Owen Sound, there’s no plan at all. So unless Transport Canada is keeping a big secret that is not shared with the community, I sure don’t know what’s going on there, and on what basis they would reject the proposal,” he said. 

Sault Ste. Marie city council agreed to sell the former floating museum ship to Michael Goman and business partner Dr. George Harpur for $2,500 in July 2020. The investors, who have long-standing business interests in Tobermory, initially planned to convert the former floating museum ship into a coffee shop and tourist destination in Tobermory’s Little Tub Harbour. 

A subsequent feasibility study conducted by TREII concluded that the proposed move to Tobermory would cause "significant and unacceptable disruption to the existing dockage arrangements, or in a manner which would enable acceptable access and parking for visitors to the vessel."  

TREII recently envisioned Owen Sound as a potential landing spot for the 188-foot vessel, which has been sitting idle at a private berth near Algoma Steel since June 2019. 

Thomas says there was support from the city of Owen Sound to enter into the exploratory stages of the Norgoma relocation proposal. 

“There’s a real romance surrounding cruising days on Georgian Bay, and I think that there’s a lot of people that still think about that romance of the cruising days. I think that in terms of Norgoma, there’s so many different things that it could have become, or could still become, I will say, because I don’t think anything’s over until it’s completely over,” said Thomas. “Imagine Norgoma as a floating bed and breakfast, or as a boutique hotel. My gosh, people would line up to get in there and spend a day or spend a night staying there, because it would be so cool. Who wouldn’t want to?”

For Thomas, who authored The Motorists' Shortcut: 100 years of the Owen Sound Transportation Company, would personally like to see the Norgoma preserved as a nod to the region’s maritime history.  

“I guess what I would hope is that somebody up there in Sault Ste. Marie who is in a decision-making capacity can give Mr. Goman to work these things through, because as with so many things, once Norgoma is gone, she’s gone - then that will really be the end,” he said. “What a shame that would be, after 100 years of maritime heritage in our collected communities along Georgian Bay.”