Opening Ceremony Ceremonie d’ouverture Eröffnungsfeier 
Salons - Deville and MacKay - Civic Centre - Lansdowne Park - Ottawa 
Monday July 24 1972, 09:30 
National Anthem - Sung by the Fresh Outlook Singers, Directed by Mr. Robert Boulanger. 
Dr. S.G. Gamble, 1972 Congress Director: Je présente l'honorable Donald MacDonald, Ministre de l'Énergie, 
des Mines et des Ressources. Mr. MacDonald. ; 
Honourable Donald MacDonald: Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. On behalf of 
the Government of Canada, I am pleased to welcome you to our country for the XIIth International Congress 
on Photogrammetry. I am particularly pleased to have been asked to speak to you today because this is the first 
time the Congress has been held in Canada, and only the second time it has been held outside Europe. This 
is also the first in a series of four ISP meetings in Canada this summer, and I hope that those of you from the 
56 other nations represented here will have a pleasant and rewarding stay in Canada. 
In this country, we have a special interest in the science of photogrammetry and its applications, and I 
am certain that our scientists will study closely the results of this Congress. As in any other field of study, the 
new developments discussed here in Ottawa will have major importance to present and future photogramme- 
tric operations in Canada and in other nations. The area of our country is approximately 10 million square 
kilometers, with unparalleled geographical complexity. There are still regions in the Canadian North and, 
indeed, in other parts of Canada, which have not been developed, and there are other areas where more 
development needs to take place. But development must be planned and orderly and, therefore, must be based 
on knowledge. In many cases, our knowledge of a particular area is still insufficient to begin development, and 
it is in this field that photogrammetry has been, and will continue to be, valuable to the management of 
Canadian resources. 
Monsieur le Président, ce furent les ingénieurs et les cartographes qui mirent d'abord la photographie 
au service du développement, comme moyen de trouver un passage au chemin de fer transcontinental à travers 
les montagnes Rocheuses. La construction de ce chemin de fer, entreprise titanesque et ambitieuse, était 
nécessaire à l'expansion du pays car elle assurait un lien entre régions du Canada autrefois séparées par 
d'énormes distances et une géographie difficile. La voie ferrée trans-canadienne fut terminée en 1885, et bien 
que les circonstances et méthodes ne soient maintenant plus les mémes, la photogrammétrie demeure un outil 
indispensable au développement du Canada. 
As the body of photogrammetric knowledge grows and the range of available techniques widens, the 
absolute need for photogrammetry in carrying out national goals increases proportionately. The most 
significant development in this evolution was the beginning of aerial photography, first used in Canada shortly 
after the 1914-18 War. This was followed in the late 1930's, by the introduction of modern photogrammetric 
instruments used initially by the Geographical Section of the Canadian Army. I understand that General 
Burns, who was the commander of the unit at that time, and who has since gone on to a very distinguished 
career in the Canadian Armed Forces, and with the United Nations, is in the audience today, and is an 
honorary member of the Congress Organizing Committee. Since that time, Canadian photogrammetrists and 
their counterparts in other nations have never looked back. Continuous research, together with regular 
exchanges of knowledge at congresses such as this one, have made photogrammetry an extremely dynamic 
science, and we, in Canada, are proud of the contribution we have been able to make to the field. 
Techniques and instruments pioneered in Canada range, from the analytical plotter and the Hobrough 
orthophoto system of mapping, to the use of airborne cameras by the Ontario Department of Natural 
Resources to detect forest damage and disease. Soon, Canada will make extensive use of data received from 
the Earth Resources Technology Satellite, launched this month by the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration in the United States. Data from this source will be particularly valuable to us for Artic 
navigation and pollution monitoring. On behalf of my Government, I wish to congratulate NASA on the 
successful launch yesterday of the Earth Resources Satelite “A”. I understand the first imagery will be released 
by NASA tomorrow, if everything goes well. We are hoping to produce the first Canadian imagery for this 
meeting on Wednesday of this week. 
Le ministére de l'Energie, des Mines et des Ressources poursuit activement ses recherches sur de 
nouvelles applications de la photogrammétrie. Actuellement, trois services du ministére, la Direction des levés 
et de la cartographie, la Commission géologique du Canada et le Centre canadien de télédétection, utilisent 
les procédés photogrammétriques et exécutent des recherches se rapportant à de nouvelles applications. Ces 
13