October 2013
| Business World Magazine | 47
the width of the river as it moves at speeds
that can exceed eight miles an hour. An early
tourist attraction, it had vanished from the
landscape with the building of the Petitco-
diac causeway in the 1960s. As a further con-
sequence, the river channel silted to so reduce
the bore that it rarely grew to more than 15–
20 cm of height.A few years ago, Moncton
and the Provincial government decided to
open the causeway gates in an effort to restore
the river, and once more, the bore returned to
its full glory. Earlier this year, two surfers set a
new world record by surfing the 29-kilometre
length of the river, the longest ride on a tidal
bore ever to be achieved in North America.
Surfers from the around the world have since
traveled to Moncton, and their exploits have
prompted spectators in the tens of thousands.
City leaders have discussed plans to develop
special events or tournaments around this
new venue opportunity, while also cautioning
that such practices include risks, not limited
to the rocks and shifting of river tides. Such
risks have only seemingly added to the want
to tackle the challenge by surfer throughout
the world, certainly leading to other challeng-
es Moncton will overcome.
As for now, Alcide Richard asserts Monc-
ton is deploying a disciplined view of the fu-
ture that adheres to intelligent growth and an
inherent philosophy of balancing work and
play – virtues that will no doubt help this his-
torical hub to maintain its growing renown as
a hub of the future.
