City of Toronto Works Commissioner from 1913 to 1945, R.C. Harris was extremely concerned with protecting Toronto's water works system from invasion and sabotage. These concerns went hand in hand with the centralized nature of the water supply system that he helped build. Like the Imperial Roman water supply schemes, these systems were more vulnerable than decentralized ones. As Harris might have put it, "The Goths could have captured Rome by destroying the aqueducts which led into the city. Cutting off the water supply or poisoning it would bring the city to its knees."
To prevent sabotage, Harris helped deploy the Canadian militia around water works sites in November 1914, three months after the start of World War I. This response was triggered by U.S. Secret Service reports that groups of enemy German agents were approaching the U.S.-Canada frontier with plans to blow up the Toronto water works. After this initial scare, Harris took responsibility for stationing civil defense forces around vulnerable points. In multicultural Toronto, Harris' concern with keeping foreign agents out translated into one of keeping all citizens at a distance from the water works in World Wars I & II.
While Harris worked to keep foreigners out, more recent Metropolitan Toronto officials worked to allow them in. In 1988, Visual Arts Ontario, with the active cooperation of Metro Works staff, staged a massive exhibit called WaterWorks at the R.C. Harris Water Filtration Plant. Artists from around the world participated. One of the resulting temporary installations functioned as a memorial to the many immigrant labourers who had died or been injured in urban construction projects.
Uploaded by suzannewilliams* on 31 May 09, 7.49PM EDT.
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