HALIFAX—Perry Doolittle had a vision of connecting Canadians from coast to coast when he backed the tires of his Ford Model T into the Atlantic Ocean at the outset of a cross-country excursion almost a century ago.
Known as the father of the Trans-Canada Highway, Doolittle was a tireless advocate for the construction of a national roadway during a time when automobiles were not commonplace.
“People were leery of this thing that moved without a horse attached to it,” said Doolittle’s great-granddaughter Ruth Young. “But I believe he felt that this was a wave of the future.”
Young and two other great-grandchildren of Doolittle were in Halifax on July 17 to accept a leadership award on his behalf from the Canadian Council of Independent Labs.
Doolittle—a physician and inventor who founded the Canadian Automobile Association in 1920—travelled across Canada in a Tin Lizzie to promote his ambitious goal, leaving from Halifax on Sept. 8, 1925.
A black-and-white video played at the award ceremony showed Doolittle rolling the back tires of his vehicle into the Atlantic Ocean, something he repeated in the Pacific Ocean when he arrived in Vancouver 39 days later.
White lettering on the back of the vehicle reads: “Celebrating the 21st birthday of the Canadian Ford Car by crossing Canada by all Canadian route, under its own power all the way.”
