Reflections 2013
Series 3
February 20
Canadian Trio II b: A Traveler in Ottawa

 

A Travel(l)er in Ottawa   Having returned from Saguenay the night before, after overnighting in Montréal for the second time at the convenient Delta Centre-Ville, I walked back the two blocks to the station for the train to Ottawa. While the Jonquière train ran only thrice weekly, using older rolling stock, Corridor trains are modern, sleek, and run several times a day between the major cities. I timed my train to Ottawa in the morning for the two-hour ride so as not to lose a "travel day", but to have the rest of the day for walking around, plus a second day. We had visited Ottawa in July 1983, according to our travel diary, on a day trip. Even if we'd added the tour of Parliament at that time (pending available free tickets), we could have seen most things one wanted to see in a day, but this time I wanted a little more depth to the visit.

 
 

On the train between Montréal and Ottawa, the announcements were bilingual, but French came first while in Québec, and English first once we crossed the border into Ontario. Ça, c'est la mode canadienne. In a couple of hours we were disembarking in Ottawa (Photo by Quanta!). The Ottawa Train Station / Gare d'Ottawa (Photo by SimonP) dates from 1966 and has won architectural prizes, although it looked rather utilitarian to me. The glassed-in aerial walkway above the trees on the left is for access to the eastbound or westbound lanes of the Ottawa (Bus) Transitway below, which, unfortunately, is a story unto itself.

 
 

Ottawa Transitway   I've seen maps of the train situation in Ottawa up until 1966, and granted, it was chaotic, with lines coming in from everywhere. Improvement by reduction of lines was a good idea, but unfortunately, the National Capital Commission threw the baby out with the bathwater. The line used to come in from the southeast along the Rideau Canal to the magnificent Union Station, opposite the equally magnificent Château Laurier Hotel, both on the Canal, and then continue over the Alexandra Bridge to Hull. We'll see a map shortly. In 1966, the present station was built on the outskirts of Ottawa, and all tracks in town were removed. True, along the Canal is now the Colonel By Drive, a scenic parkway, but central Ottawa has no rail service, nor does Hull. You cannot come into town by train and walk a few blocks to your hotel, as I could in Montréal, Jonquière, and Québec (City). Although they wanted to tear down Union Station, it was saved, since the Centennial of Canada was coming up the following year, 1967, and use was found for it. It then stood empty as a white elephant for many years until it was given a makeshift use as a "Government Conference Centre", a use to which it is only marginally suited.

 
 

So what sort of transportation is there to the center of town besides taxis, which I avoid, being a strong believer in public transportation? The solution found as of 1983 was the Ottawa Transitway, which could have been a good idea, except that it was set up for buses and not heavy or light rail. The Transitway outside the center city has a dedicated (separate) right of way (Photo by Kevin Lafreniere), often in the form of a "trench highway" using overpasses and bridges. Notice how the right-of-way looks like a four-track train ROW except that it's paved and runs buses. The Transitway station buildings are those little red shelters (Photo by Radagast).

 
 

The Transitway station at the Ottawa Station is called, rather cutely, "Train", because this is Canada and that word is spelled (not pronounced) the same in both English and French, while Station/Gare are not. Access to the Transitway to buses arriving from the east is via elevator or stairs from that overpass. The second stop into town is "Hurdman" and the third is "Lees", shown on the upper of the two above pictures. Then comes "Campus", for the University of Ottawa, and finally "Laurier", my stop, the fifth one from "Train".

 
 

These last two stops are already part of a transition within the Transitway to street use, because then the buses turn left across the canal and into downtown, where they have their biggest problem, because these downtown streets can become notoriously congested (Photo by Reaperexpress). After downtown, I understand they again get their own ROW on the way to the western suburbs. All in all, while well intended, I see the Transitway as a failure, environmentally by using buses and because of the downtown congestion.

 
 

Before we go any further, we can place on a map the locations we've discussed. The only advantage of this map (click to enlarge) is that it shows the suburbs as well as downtown, after which we'll put it aside. Start in the lower right at Train station. We'll trace both the FORMER rail tracks into town and today's Transitway, so cross the Rideau River and swing up Nicholas Street on the east bank of the Rideau Canal. The original train tracks went past Rideau Street, stopping at Union Station to its south and passing the Château Laurier on its north side then continued on the Canal side of the hotel across the Alexandra Bridge to Hull. All rail facilities are gone but Union Station.

 
 

Now go back to Nicholas Street and you'll see the University of Ottawa where the Transitway Station "Campus" (not shown) is. My Laurier Transitway Station (also not shown) is at Laurier and Waller, after which the buses, on a "Transitway" in name only, cross over the canal and cross downtown to continue west. Downtown. note Parliament Hill, and in the river, the islands and Chaudière Falls. On the right, note how the Rideau River is split by Green Island before going over the dual falls into the Ottawa River. Finally, go back to my Laurier stop at Waller, and walk with me into the residential Sandy Hill neighborhood down Daly Avenue to McGee's Inn at Nelson Street. I hope you perceive how compact Ottawa is, other than the unfortunate present location of the VIA station. If Union Station were still in use, it would have been about the same short stroll to McGee's Inn as from the bus stop.

 
 

Confederation Line (Light Rail)   Ah, but there's good news. When I was in Ottawa in September there was talk of light rail when I asked the owner when registering at McGee's Inn. Now I've looked up the updated news, and the good people of Ottawa have woken up. The Ottawa City Council, just this past 19 December 2012 unanimously (!!!) approved a plan to convert the Transitway to light rail and awarded a contract to do so. The outlying portions will be easy to convert, since they already have their dedicated ROW. Everything downtown will be in a tunnel, mostly under Queen Street, and at least the downtown portion is expected to be complete in five years, by 2017. That year will be the Sesquicentennial (150th Anniversary) of the Confederation of Canada in 1867, so the route is tentatively expected to be called the Confederation Line. It will run on the Transitway route for 12.5 km (7.8 mi) from the present east end past Ottawa Station and through Downtown, but then only one stop beyond, with no present plans to continue to the western suburbs. Here's the map of the light rail (Map by CptUnconscious), as planned. Coming in from the east, as now, it'll run in the Transitway and stop at Train, Hurdman, and Lees. It'll still stop at Campus, but since that's about where the Transitway ends, that stop will be the first of four in the tunnel, turning left downtown under Queen Street. It'll only go to the complex of government buildings in Tunney's Pasture.

 
 

My present stop at Laurier will be replaced by one further up at Rideau Street, as the tunnel turns. However, this point is right behind the former Union Station. There is interest in somehow making use of the building as part of this stop, although that's questionable, since it's a larger structure than needed.

 
 

O-Train   Although it's something I did not go visit, we should mention the O-Train as shown on the map, which was actually the first light-rail line introduced in Ottawa, a pilot program in 2001 as an alternative to buses. As you can see, it's short, about 8 km (5 mi) long, and only five stations long. It was built on a former rail line. As part of a pilot program and away from downtown, it was built as a single-track line. Four stations have only single platforms, but Carleton University in the middle has two opposite platforms, so that stop serves as a bypass point for trains in opposite directions. I understand that overnight, some freight trains still use the route, which requires a unique adjustment. There are extensions on each of the passenger platforms that are retracted at night, so the freight trains can pass by.

 
 

I was not clever enough to get the "cuteness" in the name (do you see any?), and only got it after I read what it was based on. An advertising agency was asked to come up with a catchy name (personally, I think the degree of catchiness is questionable). It's a New York tie-in. New York subway lines are either lettered or numbered. For instance, near me is the R and the 1. Duke Ellington's signature song was "Take the 'A' Train", so they came up with the O-Train. O is for Ottawa. Haha.

 
 

But wait. This is bilingual Canada, and so they also worked in a French pun. Anybody get it? If you want to go "by train" in French, you go "au train", which sounds like O-Train. Ha again. But I love them for trying, and for introducing the pilot program that has now led to the Confederation Line.

 
 

Central Ottawa Neighborhoods   Just about everything you'd want to see in Ottawa is concentrated in central Ottawa around the upper end of the Rideau Canal. Although this is a map of all Ottawa neighborhoods (Map by SimonP) (click to enlarge), all we need to look at is a couple. West of the Canal, the area that John By called Upper Town, since it's upstream on the Ottawa River, is today the Downtown neighborhood, including the financial district and the central business district. It runs just six blocks south of the major east-west street, Wellington Street in front of Parliament, to Centre Town (although some include Downtown as part of Centre Town).

 
 

When Wellington crosses the Canal, it's known as Rideau Street, which separates Lower Town, downstream on the Ottawa River, also named by By (by-by?) and still used, from Sandy Hill. The southwest corner of Lower Town, which is pleasantly residential, is the all-important closest-to-the-Canal area around ByWard Market, a center of restaurant activity, which therefore some people consider separate from Lower Town. In sum, then, on one side is Downtown with Wellington Street, on the other Rideau Street separates Lower Town (with ByWard Market) from Sandy Hill.

 
 

Sandy Hill & McGee's Inn   When I was searching for bed and breakfasts in Ottawa, there were quite a few west of the Canal in Centre Town, but McGee's Inn in Sandy Hill just struck me as the right place to book. On arrival, I found the Sandy Hill neighborhood to be an added bargain. Once I was at the inn and read its history and the history of the neighborhood, I was really delighted.

 
 

During the 19C and into the early 20C, Sandy Hill was Ottawa's wealthiest neighborhood. Most of Ottawa's lumber barons lived there, and when Ottawa became the capital, senior public servants moved there, as did the Prime Minister. But as bridges were built over the canal connecting Sandy Hill to Downtown and automobiles and streetcars became more common, its exclusivity declined, and the very wealthy moved elsewhere. More and more people moved in and Sandy Hill became middle class. Many of the once grand mansions became embassies, which remain today, including the embassies of Russia, Brazil, Austria, and Switzerland, and the University of Ottawa now takes up a large area on the western edge.

 
 

This is a map of Sandy Hill. Follow the Transitway in blue along Nicholas Street and along the Canal. The large gray areas north and south of Laurier Street are the University of Ottawa, which lends the neighborhood an academic, collegiate feel. Where the Transitway ends and buses turn left on regular streets to Downtown is my Laurier stop, an easy walk to Daly Avenue, and then down it to Nelson Street to McGee's Inn, officially listed bilingually as "Auberge McGee's Inn".

 
 

Note that Daly is only two blocks from Rideau Street, so it's well situated for access to ByWard Market. This area between Laurier and Rideau is North Sandy Hill, which is the oldest part of the neighborhood, with many of its buildings dating form the 19C, including McGee's Inn. But McGee's Inn published history boasts in particular about Daly Avenue, saying that few streets have as much history and politics as it does. It's one of the oldest streets in the area, and from the late 19C has been the home to three Prime Ministers, six Fathers of Confederation, several Superior Court judges, a clerk of the Privy Council, Lieutenant Governors, mayors, lumber barons, a major Canadian poet, and Canada's first woman Senator (who we'll mention in the next posting).

 
 

JOHN MCGEE That just-mentioned Clerk of the Privy Council of Canada was John McGee, who built his late Victorian family home in 1886. It's now McGee's Inn, and to an extent, one feels that history while at the inn. The house is large, since he and his wife had three daughters and six sons, two of whom were killed in the First World War. Four years earlier, in 1882, Prime Minister Macdonald had appointed McGee, who was born in Ireland, Clerk of the Privy Council, as well as Deputy Governor to the Governor General. The Clerk of the Privy Council is the senior civil servant in the Canadian government and operates as the deputy minister to the Prime Minister. McGee remained in his position until he retired in 1907, and, at 25 years of service, remains today as the longest-serving occupant of the position.

 
 

D'ARCY MCGEE John McGee had come to Canada in 1863 at the request of his famous brother, (Thomas) D'Arcy McGee, who was a poet, journalist, colorful politician, Irish nationalist, Catholic spokesman, and one of the founding Fathers of Confederation. He fought to define both Irish and Canadian national identities. After a late parliamentary debate one night, he returned to his boarding house in Sparks Street, where, upon entering, he was assassinated. He was given a state funeral, and is to date the only Canadian victim of political assassination at the federal level. Today, the government's Thomas D'Arcy McGee Building stands on Sparks Street near the site of the boarding house, and at the beginning of Sparks Street stands the popular D'Arcy McGee's Pub.

 
 

MCGEE'S INN So the name McGee has meaning in Ottawa. Let's go back to 1866 when John McGee had his house built at 185 Daly Avenue in the upscale neighborhood of North Sandy Hill. While the inn today just occupies the corner of Daly and Nelson, the property originally extended behind all the way down to Besserer Street, just one block short of Rideau Street. There were stables and tennis courts in the gardens behind the house, which had grandeur and Victorian charm, built by skilled artisans and tile workers. This can be seen today in the sitting room, used today as the breakfast room, which has stunning hand-carved cherry-wood fireplace mantels and beautiful tile hearths.

 
 

John McGee and his family resided in the house for over 30 years, up to the middle of WWI (he died in 1927), at which time they left the house, perhaps influenced by the death of the two sons. By that time the neighborhood was changing, and the interior of the house was afterward modified to accommodate four large, stately apartments, one per floor. So it remained for some sixty years, but then declined into a rundown boarding house by the early 1980's. At that point it was renovated by the current owners, and opened as McGee's Inn in 1984.

 
 

I'd learned of the background before arrival, which is why I booked McGee's, learned more while there, and more still since, in preparing this posting. Still, walking down Daly from the Transitway I was pleased to see that the building was still a stately mansion (Photo from BBCanada.com). It's large for a Bed & Breakfast. My B&B in Jonquière had five rooms, the one later in Québec had only three, numbers that are typical. McGee's has fourteen guest rooms, on three floors plus an annex, enough so that breakfast is in two sittings, spread over the dining room and parlo(u)r. I chose to sit in the bay windows in the parlor facing Daly Avenue, which is just to the right of this fireplace. The rooms are pleasant, and mostly large—check the website if you're interested, since they are all pictured. There is only one single, Room 15, which I booked. It's smaller, and cozier, and fit my needs perfectly. This, from the Inn website, is Room 15. Allow it to cycle through both pictures. I made good use of the desk by the bed for writing. The ensuite bath is to the right of the couch. (American usage: "room with bath"; British and Commonwealth usage includes an extra word based on a French phrase: "room with ensuite bath").

 
 

Seeing Ottawa on Foot   There are two ways acceptable to me for an informed individual traveler to see a city, by car or on foot. (Bus tours are a poor substitution in an emergency, and just give a superficial overview. I've done 'em when forced to by circumstance and have rarely been satisfied.) I've done my share of driving in large cities, especially when Beverly was in the wheelchair, and I particularly remember Paris, Rome, Vienna, Berlin . . . I also remember the advantages of using a car to see dispersed areas of interest in a large city quite easily. Our 1983 Ottawa visit was largely by car, and we were able to drive the length of both drives along the Canal, and along the Ottawa River. But still, a quality visit has to be on foot, where you really see so much more. So, settled into McGee's by late morning, I had the rest of the day for my first walk.

 
 

As was the case in Reykjavik, I've found an outstanding map for readers to follow the walks, to visit Ottawa vicariously with me, whether they've been there already or not. This is the link to the Capital Sights map. Move down to the bottom center until the bar appears, and click on the plus sign as many times as necessary; the minus will get you back. Since we'll be referring repeatedly to this map, I'd suggest you open a separate window and copy-and-paste this following link so you can return to it merely by flipping windows:

 
 
 http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/sites/default/files/pubs/confedblvd_tear-off_front_2012_ef_altdec12_150dpi.pdf
 
 

RIDEAU CANAL This beautiful map is a delight. We'll start in Sandy Hill at McGee's (off the map) and walk down Daly towards the Canal and Downtown. I had done this in order to make the walk into a clockwise loop with a southern route going and a northern one returning. Cross over the second bridge from the mouth of the Canal, the Mackenzie King Bridge (Photo by Staatenloser), named after Canada's longest-serving Prime Minister. This bridge is shown here in the distance, looking north along the idyllic Rideau Canal toward Parliament on the left and the pointed peaks of the Château Laurier Hotel on the right. But there is more here than meets the eye to someone who knows a little background. When the bridge was built in 1951, that left-hand span crossed the Canal, as today, and the right-hand span crossed the railroad tracks leading into Union Station, the arched building in the distance. But the station is now the wishy-washy "Government Conference Centre", and the former tracks are the Colonel By Drive along the canal, along with a pedestrian walkway. This canal-level view (Photo by Padraic Ryan; click to enlarge) of the bridge gives some different impressions. The left side looking up to the first bridge on the Canal, the Plaza Bridge, and the peaks of the Château Laurier is still idyllic, but the motor traffic on the Colonel By Drive is much less so. One still wonders if the track area could have been beautified, maintaining rail service, without turning the right-of-way over to motor vehicles. Finally, we have a view a bit beyond (Photo by Andrijko Z.), showing the uppermost end of the Canal up to Plaza Bridge before it descends down the Ottawa Locks. Click to enlarge to see how the Canal separates Parliament on the left from the Château Laurier on the right, and how Colonel By Drive veers right to avoid the former Union Station, with the former track area as parkland and paving blocks.

 
 

CONFEDERATION SQUARE Go back to the map to check to see that, once on the Downtown side of the Canal we come shortly to a major north-south street, Elgin Street, with distinguished buildings, and turn right to where Elgin splits to form two sides of a triangular area abutting Wellington Street and the Plaza Bridge. This triangle is Confederation Square (Photo by Skeezix1000), the second most important ceremonial site in Ottawa after the adjacent Parliament Hill. Click to enlarge to inspect this view from the northeast, above Wellington Street. The large monument is the National War Memorial, and to its left is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (both are #7 on our map). Some of the elegant buildings that line Elgin Street are visible, and so is the entrance to the Sparks Street Mall.

 
 

The National War Memorial (Photo by Jcart1534), shown here with the East Block of Parliament in the background, is a cenotaph (honorary "empty tomb") made of granite with bronze sculptures. Like so many 20C monuments, was first built to commemorate WWI, but then had to be supplemented to commemorate WWII and the Korean War as well. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Photo by Leafsfan67), here with the Château Laurier in the background, was added only in 2000, and is dedicated to all branches of service. I wonder if it has struck anyone else that, while both monuments reflect on war, an actual tomb counters the fact that the cenotaph itself is, by definition, empty.

 
 

In discussing the War of 1812 in the last posting, we referred to the Valiants Memorial, on the NE side of the square. It's newer still, since it was dedicated in 2006. It commemorates fourteen key heroic figures in Canadian military history, some as statues, some as busts, grouped in five military periods. This is one grouping of five of the busts (Photo by Canadiana) of heroes representing, back to front, the French Régime, American Revolution, War of 1812, WWI, WWII. The second and third periods of those five continue to remind of the importance to Canadians of the two conflicts with the United States.

 
 

SPARKS STREET MALL From here we'll turn into Sparks Street, a heritage street that runs one block south of Wellington, the first few blocks of which are now are a pedestrian zone called the Sparks Street Mall (#17 on the map). Much of it has the urban look of the background rather than this treed area, with restaurants and cafés (Photo by d.neuman), although nowhere as crowded as this when I was there.

 
 

SUPREME COURT At the far end of Sparks I turned up Kent to Wellington Street. Just beyond a cluster of impressive buildings on Wellington I came to the building of the Supreme Court of Canada (Photo by Wladyslaw), shown by a scale icon on the map, next to the river, near the islands (#22) and Chaudière Falls (#23). I show the building for two reasons, first because we'll refer to the Court when discussing a seminal legal case in the next posting, and second, because of the building's rather unique architectural style. Designed in 1939, most of the building is Art Deco, typical for the 1930's. But the unique roof is of a totally different style. It tries to imitate, in an updated 1930's version, perhaps as an hommage, the peaked-roof châteauesque style so typical of Canadian monumental buildings, such as the Château Laurier. We'll discuss this style shortly, so remember this roof.

 
 

PARLIAMENT Walking back east on Wellington, which has impressive heritage buildings on its south side, we come to the pièce de résistance, Parliament, shown on the map with a tower icon. Before we look at pictures, orient yourself from the map to understand there are three buildings facing each other on a quadrangle north of Wellington Street on so-called Parliament Hill, from left to right, the West Block, the huge Centre Block, comprising the heart of Parliament, and the East Block. Behind them are the river bluffs, and to their right, the Canal. Now if you have your bearings, adjust them to properly understand this aerial view of Parliament, looking west (Photo by Y Anderson). Click to enlarge to inspect, bottom to top, the East Block, Centre Block, and West Block; the Supreme Court on the river with its unique roof; the island area and western part of town that's now largely parkland after burning in the Hull-Ottawa fire of 1900 (2013/2); a number of other distinguished buildings along Wellington Street; and a bit of the Sparks Street Mall one block south (to the left). On the river side of the Centre Block note (only half shown) the circular library, and on its quadrangle side the Peace Tower. A crowd is gathered around the Centennial Flame on the quadrangle, which is slightly sloped uphill coming from Wellington Street, as attested by the small staircase. This slope is the basis for calling this site Parliament Hill, although the river view of the bluffs is vastly more spectacular.

 
 

What is now known as Parliament Hill is a limestone outcropping over the river, which has a gentle slope on the inland side, hence the name "hill". The original primeval forest that covered it consisted of beech and hemlock trees. This outcropping had served First Nations peoples, and later the arriving Europeans, as a landmark. When Ottawa was declared capital of the Province of Canada (the combined Ontario and Québec-see 2013/2) because of its central location in that area, the location on this outcropping of John By's barracks used to build the Rideau Canal, called Barrack Hill, was found to be the ideal place to build a new parliament building. Construction of the several buildings began in 1859 and the West, Centre, and East Blocks were completed in 1866, a year in which a very curious thing happened. The parliament of the (United) Province of Canada met in the new building intended for it in 1866 for the first—and last—time, because it was the last session of its existence, since the Province of Canada as it had existed was coming to an end. The next year, on 1 July 1867, the Dominion of Canada was formed, also with the no-longer-centrally-located Ottawa as its capital, and all the parliaments that met from then on in the buildings represented the new Canada and had additional representatives to reflect the entire Confederation.

 
 

The style of the parliament buildings is, quite magnificently, Gothic Revival, also known as Victorian Gothic. It was a movement that had started in the late 1740's in England, but became particularly popular into the 1800's. It was a period when the neoclassical style had prevailed in public buildings, such as in the US Capitol across the border, but also when an interest arose to revive medieval Gothic architecture. The architectural movement spread out from 19C England to the European continent, to the Americas, Australia, and South Africa. In many places, notably the US, the style appeared not only in public buildings, but also in domestic structures, often wooden houses, a style referred to as Carpenter Gothic, as discussed in 2011/18 in regard to the painting "American Gothic". It has been suggested that there may have been more buildings built in Gothic Revival and Carpenter Gothic styles than actual Gothic buildings had been built originally in the medieval period. Just a few notable ones in addition to the Canadian Parliament are the Houses of Parliament in London, the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest, the Kölner Dom / Cologne Cathedral, Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York, and many more around the world.

 
 

Gothic Revival was particularly influential in Canada because it occurred at a particularly significant time. It became popular at just the period when many Canadian institutions were founded, in the late 19C and early 20C, so even more educational, religious, and governmental institutions were built in the style in Canada than elsewhere. For instance, while Gothic Revival had its influence in the US, such as at West Point, many universities, and cathedrals, the neoclassic style used in the US Capitol was the one that had influence across the country. The majority of state capitol buildings in the US are domed, white, neoclassical structures, since that was the influence as the US was growing as embodied in the US Capitol. Gothic Revival had a similar influence in Canada, and can be described as one of Canada's signature styles. Thus, the Gothic Revival period was even more influential and lasted longer in Canada than elsewhere, including Britain and the US, lasting in Canada well into the 1930's. As an example, note the above-mentioned Supreme Court Building, designed in 1939, whose roof is a modernized and simplified Gothic Revival style.

 
 

With the popularity and acceptance of Gothic Revival / Victorian Gothic in Canada at the time the Parliament buildings were designed and built in the early 1860's, architects became more willing to modify it. While earlier Gothic Revival architects tried to closely copy the medieval style, Victorian Gothic architects combined elements of the style from many countries and made other modifications, so that, for example, while the Parliament buildings in Ottawa are without a doubt Gothic, but they do not resemble any Gothic structure built in the Middle Ages. In addition, Victorian Gothic had an influence on the Châteauesque style that we'll discuss shortly.

 
 

The ideal entrance to the grounds from Wellington Street is at the Queen's Gates (Photo by Siqbal), centrally located on the main axis of the quadrangle, Centennial Flame, Centre Block, and Peace Tower behind them.

 
 
 While we're still standing here at the gates on Wellington, take a look at the same (though snowy) view of the open Queen's Gates circa 1900. Don't concentrate on the gates but on the Centre Block behind them. Flip between these last two pictures and try to form an opinion as to the differences in architectural style, proportion, and balance of what you see, disregarding the black-and-white versus color factor. Do you prefer one over the other or like what you see equally well? Mystery #1: Why are there two such different views?
 
 

On entering the grounds, one has a view to the left of the West Block (Photo by Neil Carey), used for governmental offices. This shows a detail of the main tower (Photo by Mike Gifford). To the right one sees the asymmetrical East Block (Photo by D. Gordon E. Robertson), also used for governmental offices, and you don't have to look at it very long until you see The Face (my term) in the tower. If you haven't yet been struck with the differences in Gothic styles from traditional to Victorian, this example of Victorian whimsy is something you certainly wouldn't have seen in the middle ages, but also probably not in Gothic Revival buildings elsewhere. Here's a closer view of The Face in the East Block Tower (Photo by alana's), the one on the other side.

 
 

As one continues to enter the grounds, one comes to the Centennial Flame (Photo by Andrijko Z.), which commemorates Canada's 100th Anniversary as a Confederation in 1967. It shows the shields of the provinces and territories.

 
 

As we approach the Centre Block (Photo by Matthew Samuel Spurrell), we get a clearer view without the gates in the way. Before going in, let's circle to the left around it. Around the building, the grounds are in the English garden style, with various memorials and statues. There's a beautiful walk in the back along the top of the bluffs, and at the northwest corner of the grounds, there's a gazebo with beautiful river views down from the bluffs. I sat in it for a while enjoying the view. It's called the Summer Gazebo (Photo by Randolph Croft), and is a 1995 reconstruction. Appropriately, the wooden structure is in Carpenter Gothic style. (!!!) There's also a monument to a bell on the ground that we can consider Mystery #2.

 
 

But without any doubt, the most spectacular part of Parliament is here in the back, the almost-circular, but actually polygonal Library of Parliament (Photo by Wladyslaw), surely among the most beautiful buildings in the world.

 
 

Well, is it a separate building? Not exactly, since it's connected by an enclosed corridor to the Centre Block, making it technically a part of it. Still, it's easy to look at it as a separate building, since its history varies from the Centre Block and its style is richer. Click to enlarge to look at the richness of design, with hardly a spot left bare.

 
 
 Before we leave this picture, note that the Peace Tower in the front is visible, as well as the back of the Centre Block. Compare that back wall with the library. Do you see a difference? The Centre Block has similar arched windows, although less decorative, with plain glass. It has some stonework of interest, but not as rich as on the library. The sloped roof has the occasional simple dormer. None of this compares to the High Victorian Gothic style of the library. The style of the Centre Block is Modern Gothic, and simpler. That's why everyone comes to look at the library. Mystery #3: Why are these styles different?
 
 

Originally, the libraries of Upper Canada and Lower Canada, dating from the 1790's, were combined when the two provinces joined to form the short-lived Province of Canada, which again separated into Ontario and Québec upon confederation. They were housed in this unique library building, completed in 1876, a decade after the three Blocks were in 1866. Mystery #4: If the library was built a decade after (the rest of) the Centre Block, why is it today the oldest part of the Centre Block?

 
 

The library is about as High Victorian Gothic a you can get. It looks like an apse to a Gothic cathedral, but is more substantial, since an apse is at best only semi-circular. The walls are load-bearing and are supported by 16 flying buttresses. This is a section of wall detail with, on the left, the vertical buttress supporting a flying buttress (Photo by Brent Eades), while this view shows the semi-arched flying buttress itself (Photo by Randolph Croft) "flying" to support the wall. The roof is in three tiers surmounted by a cupola. The lowest tier of roof is below the flying buttresses. This detail shows the mid-level roof and cupola with its roof (Photo by Rick Harris), while this is a detail of the clerestory windows around the cupola (Photo by Y Anderson), also showing tinier flying buttresses supporting the cupola. Once again, look at the ensemble of the library (Photo by Wladyslaw) to see the details coming together, and to compare them to the more modest Centre Block.

 
 

So what's the reason for these mysterious discrepancies? It was one of the several things that brought me back to Ottawa this trip, understanding the look of Parliament after the Great Fire of 1916. My personal draw goes back to the summer of 1969, the second of two years where we spent many weeks each summer driving around the US and Canada. It was our first time in Prince Edward Island, and in Charlottetown we took the tour of the Province House National Historic Site, and of its Confederation Chamber, which was the site of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference, the first of three conferences (with Québec the following month in 1864 and London in 1866) that led to Canadian Confederation. We were learning Canadian history as we went along, and were shown an 1885 photograph of a very significant painting done by Robert Harris in 1884, showing the event two decades earlier, called "The Fathers of Confederation", actually a composite of participants in all three conferences. But it was what the guide said at the time that stuck in my mind for the following 43 years. He said the original of the painting no longer exists, since it burned during the fire in the Centre Block of Parliament in 1916.

 
 

It's the unusual use of the word "block" that has confused me for all this time, since I interpreted it as a part of a building, such as a wing, rather than an entire building, such as in the phrase "apartment block". And I always thought that just the central section, or central wing, of the Canadian Parliament had burned, and it struck me as an odd coincidence that that was exactly the location of the famous painting. What bad luck, I envisioned; if the painting had been down the hall away from the center, it might have survived. Thus, I wanted to see in Ottawa how just the middle of a building suffered a fire that just happened to take the painting with it. How wrong I was. When he said the Centre Block burned down in 1916, what he meant was that the entire main building of the Canadian Parliament was destroyed, so the painting wouldn't have been safe anywhere in the building. It's odd how an idée fixe can remain with one for so many years until it's finally proven inaccurate.

 
 

The bottom line is that the East Block and West Block, both dating from 1866, and the 1876 Library, although renovated, are all original structures, while what one sees today is the second iteration of the Centre Block. Although the fire is openly referred to, to my mind it seems to be glossed over, and the impression remains in the public mind, and is allowed to remain, that two different buildings are somehow the same structure. I would personally prefer it if a distinction were made between the Old Centre Block, or Old Parliament Building, and the current New Centre Block, or New Parliament Building. They are similar, but not the same, and, while I appreciate, enjoy, and admire the present structure—it's the most pleasing parliament building I've visited--I think a lot of good architecture was lost in not more closely reconstructing the Old Centre Block. I maintain there's good reason why people walk around back and really admire the remarkable architecture of the library, more than that of the New Centre Block, so just keep in mind that the Old Centre Block more closely resembled the style of the library.

 
 

I have assembled from several different online sources a summary of the Great Fire of 1916. It should be kept in mind that this came just 16 years after the Hull-Ottawa Fire of 1900 (2013/2) that removed large areas of western Ottawa from the map.

 
 

It was on a freezing winter's evening, 3 February 1916, that an alarm was called in for a fire in the (Old) Centre Block at 8:37 PM. 1916 was the midpoint of the Great War (WWI, 1914-1918), and although later some suspected wartime sabotage, a Royal Commission that investigated it ruled that it was accidental, inasmuch as carelessness and poor fire safety planning can be considered accidental. The exact cause was never pinpointed, but there was agreement that it started in the Reading Room of the House of Commons in the west wing. The most likely cause was careless smoking of cigars and cigarettes, since MPs were known to smoke there despite the prohibition. Some say a cigarette or cigar—more likely a cigar, given the era--started to smolder in a wastebasket. Others say a cigarette was tossed among newspapers on shelves of combustible white pine that had recently been varnished. In any case, an MP and a clerk tried to put the fire out but it burst out of control, fed by the considerable amount of wood paneling and all the newspapers and magazines in the reading room. The fire spread to the corridor and smoke filled the building. The interior of the Centre Block was poorly ventilated, also finished with wood, the walls had recently been oiled, and the floor varnished. Conditions could not have been worse.

 
 

The nearby House of Commons was in session that evening. There was barely a quorum present as a member droned on about the transportation of fish. Suddenly the doors burst open and a clerk shouted that the building was on fire. He then apologized for his abrupt manner, but apparently some of those present were still not impressed with the urgency of the situation, and members of the press gallery who took their time going down the winding staircase were quickly surrounded by thick black smoke. Along the way, they ran into the Prime Minister, Robert Borden, who was making his way on hands and knees through the smoke and flames. He had been in his office when he heard the news and escaped down a messenger's stairway.

 
 

MPs and others hastily exiting formed a human chain to carry out furniture, artwork or papers, including the portrait of Queen Victoria hanging in the Commons. I saw what might be the same portrait hanging outside the Senate. The figure is not quite centered, and the explanation is that the left side of the painting burned, and was cut away when it was reframed, leaving the figure off-center. Before the fire reached the Senate, Senators and soldiers rescued some historic paintings there. Wherever the painting of the Fathers of Confederation was hanging, apparently it was not one of them.

 
 

MPs who didn't move quickly to get out of the House chamber were then trapped in the dark when the lights went out. One MP called for everyone to join hands and the group made it to safety.

 
 

At 9:30, less than an hour after the fire started, the roof of the House of Commons collapsed. As the fire intensified into an inferno, muffled explosions, some say five, accompanied the collapse of sections of roof around the building, sending sparks into the sky and lighting up the night as the city watched. From a third story window a few blocks away, the granddaughter of Thomas Fuller, architect of the (Old) Centre Block, watched as she saw his masterpiece being destroyed.

 
 

By 10 PM the building was doomed. The bell connected to the clock in the Victoria Tower had struck nine o'clock, ten, eleven, as the fire approached. But by 11, the Victoria Tower had caught on fire as well and filled with smoke. The bell never made it to striking twelve, because before midnight, the massive bell crashed down to the ground within the tower. At 1:21 AM, the Victoria Tower itself collapsed into a pile of crumbled masonry. This photograph was taken at 12:30 AM, after the bell had fallen but less than an hour before the tower collapsed.

 
 

There was a high wind out of the northwest that night. By 3 AM the fire was mostly under control, but then the wind caught the fire and swept it toward the Senate in the east wing, where it sprang to life again and was still burning the next day. Within twelve hours of the start of the fire, only the Centre Block's exterior walls remained, and it was completely destroyed.

 
 

But not the library. It survived, secondarily because it was connected to the Centre Block only by that narrow corridor, but primarily because of the foresight of the librarian, who had insisted earlier on the installation of iron fire doors and because of the quick thinking of a clerk in ordering the fire doors slammed shut before evacuating the building. This is the scene the next morning with the Library of Parliament unharmed behind the destroyed Centre Block.

 
 

The scene that morning was desolate. The Centre Block was a smoking shell encrusted with ice and filled with icy rubble. Piles of rescued furniture were about. Shivering firemen warmed their hands around steaming cups of coffee. In its issue of 13 February 1916, the New York Times published this picture of Parliament after the Great Fire of 1916, although in this picture, the Victoria Tower hadn't collapsed yet.

 
 

There were seven deaths in the fire. The Speaker of the House and his wife had been entertaining three lady guests. Two of them, who didn't understand the seriousness of the situation, insisted on going back for their fur coats and were found dead in a corridor. The third escaped by hanging for ten minutes from a window before dropping 12 m (40 ft) below into a fireman's net. A policeman and two government employees were crushed under a falling wall. A Nova Scotia MP died near the House of Commons Reading Room, where it had all started. Finally, two days afterward, the body of the Assistant Clerk of the House of Commons was found in the building.

 
 

Work on rebuilding the Centre Block began immediately. However, it was not a restoration or even a reconstruction, something that apparently evades many people today, who picture the present building to be, by and large, the same building from 1866, just restored. Whenever there is destruction by natural disaster or war, rebuilding always includes hidden improvements—perhaps updated utilities—but one feels one has the old building back. That is not the case with the New Centre Block (my term). Changes had to be made, and the New Centre Block is an outstanding building, my favo(u)rite of the Parliaments I've visited. But to my way of thinking, too much was changed, and the baby was thrown out with the bathwater. The new building is more fireproof, but less fanciful in style. Always keep in mind that everyone goes behind the Centre Block to admire the Library. I haven't seen anyone admire the details of the façade of the New Centre Block in the same way.

 
 

Initially, the architects intended to rebuild on the footprint of the Old Centre Block, but circumstances changed that. It was decided that more office space was needed, and an additional floor was worked in to the plan. With all of that, what was left of the original walls and foundation was demolished, and the new building was built with a steel frame and load-bearing concrete. Even this doesn't shock me, since I know Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York has a steel frame. Still, authenticity is lost when building a traditional style such as Gothic Revival, but with too much modernization.

 
 

It was wisely decided that the interior would be predominantly finished in stone, and would have a simpler, more logical layout, with a clear exiting strategy, all good ideas. The symmetrical layout is excellent, with essentially three main corridors emanating from a two-story central rotunda called Confederation Hall, located at the front entrance. These main corridors lead west to the House, east to the Senate, north to the library.

 
 

I find the decision to modernize the style is one of the two things I object to. Instead of Victorian High Gothic, it was built in a simplified version, called modern Gothic, which is "sympathetic" to the original and "respects" it, but is substantially pared down in ornament, in keeping with the Beaux-Arts style emerging in the early 20C, such as in New York's Grand Central Terminal of 1913, and also the ex-Union Station in Ottawa of 1912.

 
 

The New Centre Block is also very much of its time, being strongly influenced by emotions of the First World War. The new building is in reality a war memorial, with a Memorial Chamber in the new Peace Tower, whose name even reflects the post-war emotions. I feel the Memorial Chamber could have been worked into the base of a reconstructed Victoria Tower, just as it's in the base of the (to me) oversized Peace Tower. I feel the Peace Tower's height is out of proportion to the rest of the building, and should have reflected more the height of the Victoria Tower. In sum, the New Centre Block, wonderful as it is, is a 20C building, paying mild hommage to its High Victorian past, and reflecting Canada's wartime experience.

 
 

Building the New Centre Block began five months after the fire, in July 1916. The first parliament sat in the new building in 1920, although it wasn't completed until 1922, with the Peace Tower opening in 1928. Still, the corridors and main chambers were still missing their decorative carvings, and sculpting work on the interior continued through the 1970's.

 
 

1917, the year after the fire, was the semi-centennial (50th anniversary) of Canadian confederation in 1867, and Canada issued a three-cent stamp in commemoration. It was appropriate and logical that it should illustrate Robert Harris's 1884 painting of the Fathers of Confederation, but also had to be a poignant reminder that that very painting had been destroyed in the fire the year before.

 
 

Before we enter the (New) Centre Block to visit the interior, let's do some comparing to see if you like the two iterations of the building equally, or prefer one over the other, either way. See if you agree or disagree with my arguments that the new building, nice as it is, would have been better off with MORE of the original decoration, like the High Victorian Gothic library, and LESS tower, in other words, one more in proportion to the size of the building.

 
 

First let's look again at the view from the gates, which shows the Old Centre Block straight on. These are views from the right and from the left. Now compare those to this view, closer than before, of the New Centre Block (Photo by Stephen W. Dengler). Compare the styles, and consider the height of the towers. The Victoria Tower was 55 m (180 ft) high, and the Peace Tower (a rebuilt Victoria Tower could have been renamed that) is 92.2 m (302.5 ft). Thus the Victoria Tower was just 60% as high as the newer Peace Tower, which, conversely, is a whopping 168% of what it replaced.

 
 

Finally, compare the Library with the Centre Block. We earlier saw the variation in decoration as they appear today. This next picture, circa 1900, shows how the High Victorian Gothic Library and Old Centre Block were uniform in style. You can also see in this view the small corridor connecting them. As for the balance in height between the Library and the Victoria Tower, take a look at this 1859 draft of a cross-section of the original buildings. Compare the harmony in height of the Victoria Tower on the far left with the Library on the right. Finally, this beautiful picture (Photo by Sylvain Pastor) shows the tall Peace Tower compared to the Library. Harmonious in height or not? Also, compare the styles. The New Centre Block has a much more severe roof than the ebullient Library roof. Click to enlarge to study the more modest stonework on the Centre Block. By the way, this picture was taken from Major's Hill Park, #32 on our Ottawa map above, meaning that between the near trees and far trees is the trench dug for the Canal to accommodate the eight Ottawa locks, which we'll see shortly.

 
 

But the Old Centre Block and Great Fire of 1916 are not forgotten. I mentioned earlier that there was a bell monument on the grounds between the Gazebo and the Library. It's the very same Victoria Tower Bell (Photo by Chris Fournier) that came crashing down during the fire before it could strike midnight. It was cast in 1875 and installed in 1877. This only remaining relic wasn't restored until 2000, when it was placed on the grounds as an hommage to the Old Centre Block and the Victoria Tower, a memorial to the Great Fire that destroyed them both. It's positioned on a circular granite base etched with a clock face to represent the role of the bell in keeping time. The tilt of the bell is to recall the angle at which it came to rest after crashing down the center of the Victoria Tower.

 
 

We've had a pause in our Ottawa walk to discuss both architecture and the fire, so now it's time we stepped inside to tour the Centre Block and inspect its magnificent interiors. But that's more easily said than done, because this wonderful place is as popular as you'd imagine. It was still mid-afternoon on my first of two days when I asked about tickets. I knew they were free, but then found that they had already been distributed for the tours for rest of the day. It was suggested I come back the next morning. So let's put the activities of the rest of Day 1 aside until later.

 
 

Day 2 started with me leaving McGee's right after breakfast and taking Rideau right over to Wellington and into the basement level under the main entrance, where tickets were distributed and where the security check was. As it was, although English (and French) tours leave every few minutes, I got a ticket for about an hour and a half later. Not to worry. You can visit the Peace Tower's observation deck and Memorial Room while waiting.

 
 

The Peace Tower visit worked out fine, but moved like molasses, and I kept looking at my watch so as not to miss my scheduled tour. First was the wait for the single elevator to the top, and the queue was long enough that I had to wait for the car to leave several times until I got on. Tick-tock. The guide on the lift explains that the tower tapers, and so the lift somewhat uniquely rises at a bit of a slant. Another interesting point is that, as you rise, through the glass door you can see that you're passing first the small, then the medium, then the large bells of the carillon, until you arrive at the observation level.

 
 

This is a close-up (in winter) of the Peace Tower (Photo by D. Gordon E. Robertson). Click on the base to enlarge it to see that it stands on four huge legs separated by arches, forming a porte-cochère. A roadway crosses through the two side arches (not seen), while through the front arch is the formal entry, into the rotunda. I only was able to exit that way, since the visitor entrance is in the basement level right below so you can go through security. The large window above the arch is in the Memorial Chamber and the openings above that are for the 53-bell carillon, which is meant to commemorate the 1918 armistice ending WWI. On the four sides, directly below the clock faces, which are 4.8 m (16 ft) in diameter, are the glass windows of the observation level, 60 m (200 ft) above the ground, as opposed to the total height of the tower at 92 m (302.5 ft).

 
 

Carillon concerts are given periodically by a carilloneur, but the hour is struck automatically. Listen on this rather darkly-lit YouTube video to three o'clock being struck.

 
 

From the rather compact observation area there are views in all directions. On the north side (Photo by Andrijko Z.) can be seen the Ottawa River, here with a boat sailing out of the Rideau Canal to the side of Parliament. Beyond the always spectacular Library roof is the historic Alexandra Interprovincial Bridge (formerly including rail, now for motor vehicles and pedestrians) connecting Gatineau (Hull) in Québec to Ottawa in Ontario. The Ottawa end brushes Nepean Point, which, along with the bridge offers a spectacular view back of Parliament. Click to enlarge to see the statue of Champlain on the Point.

 
 

I particularly liked the view to the southeast (Photo by Montrealais) because of all it encompassed, including three magnificent architectural styles. From the bottom, clockwise (pun intended), is the Gothic Revival East Block with The Face (actually, The Faces, because they're on all four sides of the tower); across the (here not visible) Ottawa Locks on the Canal, the Château Laurier Hotel in typical châteauesque style (discussed in a moment, but compare the influence of Gothic Revival on châteauesque); across the Plaza Bridge (connecting Wellington and Rideau) the former Union Station in Beaux-Arts style; the finally visible Rideau Canal with the Mackenzie King Bridge we crossed earlier; and Confederation Square with the white National War Memorial, just before coming back to The Face.

 
 
 We can interject here some facts reported on Wikipedia. In the 1950's and 1960's there were discussions to "improve" the area by tearing down the West Block for a new structure, tearing down the Library (!!!) for a new one, and tearing down the East Block for a—get this—parking lot (!!!), this being the Era of the Automobile. This was the same time period when Pennsylvania Station in New York, built in 1910 in the Beaux-Arts style, was demolished above ground in 1963, but cooler heads prevailed in Ottawa, and none of this happened. That wisdom continued during the track removal next to Union Station in 1966 took place, but the station itself, also scheduled to be demolished, was spared and is now the Government Conference Centre.

There are presently some government buildings on Wellington, but it's interesting that, in 1973, the Crown expropriated the entire block between Wellington and Sparks, planning to build a South Block of Parliament, an interesting thought, but something that also never materialized.
 
 

The observation level is really quite small, and there was another queue lining up on two sides of it to go down on the elevator (you had to cross the line to see some views), and again there was a wait. Tick tock. Down below again, it was time to visit the Memorial Chamber, but I got there shortly after they'd started the daily ritual of turning a page in each memorial book, so there was more waiting. Tick tock.

 
 

It was standing in this queue for the page turning to be completed that something happened to startle my comprehension of people's conception of history. Here we were, waiting to enter a memorial to WWI (to which, as everywhere else, further memorials to WWII and later wars have been added), and on the marble column to the left of the doorway it said, quite logically, 1914 and on the one on the right, 1918. Yet the forty-something couple in front of me stopped a passing uniformed guard and asked what those years signified. As my hair stood on end on hearing the question, I figured he'd fill them in, and I couldn't believe it when the guard himself pondered the columns, and then said he didn't know. I had to take it upon myself to fill the couple in.

 
 

The Memorial Chamber, right above the porte-cochère, is a vaulted room (Photo by Daryl Mitchell) 7.3 m (24 ft) square; this is one of the stained glass windows, the one on the south wall we'd seen from outside. The focal point of the room is the Altar of Remembrance (Photo by Daryl Mitchell), a gift from Britain. It rests on stone quarried in Belgium in the Flanders Fields area of major battles that saw Canadian action, and the brass nameplates were cast from spent shell casings from the war.

 
 

Originally it had been thought to put the names of the dead on the walls of the Chamber, but that was, sadly, impractical, and instead, the names were inscribed in an illuminated manuscript. The WWI book is the largest of several, and took the illustrator, followed by his successor, until 1942 to gather the information and illustrate the book. The WWII book, the second largest, took until 1952 to complete. Newfoundland had not been a province during the World Wars, so in 1973, a Newfoundland book covering both wars was added. Other books cover Korea and other actions later, for a total of seven books. This is one of the Books of Remembrance (Photo by MacGyver24), and this is one of the newer pages covering Afghanistan.

 
 

All the "tick-tocks" weren't enough to delay my joining my tour at the appropriate time. The simplest way to describe the tour of the interiors is to start in the center and work out in three directions, since everything is arranged symmetrically around it. The center of the building and convergence of its main hallways is the rotunda, which is named Confederation Hall (Photo by Montrealais). I understand that it's very similar to the one in the original building. It's two-tiered, here viewed from the surrounding gallery, and the formal entrance (for the public nowadays, de facto only an exit) is visible to the left, which is under the porte-cochère. The rotunda is actually octagonal, divided into bays by clustered columns, with further subdivisions made by green stone columns. Behind all these columns is an ambulatory whose vaulting supports the upper gallery.

 
 

The paintings in the corridors portray people of significance, and also Canadian history. Most memorable to me was the set of murals showing peoples arriving in what today is Canada, starting with the First Nations peoples; what I particularly enjoyed was seeing the arrival of the Vikings in Newfoundland, given my recent study of Norse expansion.

 
 

In the West Corridor is the elegant chamber of the House of Commons (Photo by Montrealais), whose defining colo(u)r is green. It has 308 members, who are all elected. At the head of the chamber is the chair of the Speaker of Commons (Photo by Sam), who presides over deliberations. I finally learned why the term "speaker" is used for this office, not only here, but elsewhere in the English-speaking world. Technically, the Speaker was originally designated to "speak" to the monarch, and also to "speak" to the Senate on behalf of Commons. The Canadian Speaker is elected by members by secret ballot. He wears a robe, and a tricorner hat when entering, at which point all rise.

 
 

Walking down the East Corridor from the rotunda one comes upon the distinguished chamber of the Senate (Photo by Mightydrake), whose theme colo(u)r is red. Technically, there are three elements that constitute the government, Commons, the Senate, and the Queen, who is represented by the Governor General. These last two elements are combined in that the Governor General presides officially in the Senate (or, on extremely rare occasion, the Queen). Senators are not elected, but appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. On a practical basis, the actual presiding officer of the Senate is also called a Speaker, and he is also appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. Therefore, at the far end of the Senate chamber there are three chairs (Photo by Makaristos). The taller one in the back is considered a throne, for the Queen, accompanied by her Consort on the other chair. This has rarely happened. Alternatively, these are occupied by the Governor General and his wife, but only on the opening of Parliament. The chair in the front is occupied by the Speaker of the Senate.

 
 

We have a very interesting story in the next posting about the appointing of Senators, but we'll now mention the other matter I found intriguing on the tour of the Senate, and have researched further. Members are elected to Commons on the basis of population, just as Representatives are elected to the House in the US Congress, and as happens in other parliaments. But in the US Senate, in an attempt to keep equality at the state level, each state, either large or small geographically, either populous or less populous, gets exactly two Senators. But this was possible to establish because it was set up long before states that are large geographically, such as Texas or Alaska, or hugely large in population, such as California, joined the Union.

 
 

The situation was very different in Canada at the time of confederation. As was explained in detail on the history of Canada in 2011/25, ex-New France lay along the Saint Lawrence and had evolved to the Province of Canada (Ontario-Québec). Ex-Acadia had evolved to the Maritimes. The three (tiny) Maritimes of NS, NB, PE were talking about a maritime union, when, quite cleverly, the Premier of the (vaster, and double-sized) Province of Canada, John A. Macdonald, asked if Canada could join the conference, which ended up being the first step toward confederation. Now I am not belittling confederation in any way, but this was a master stroke on Macdonald's part. Certainly, confederation was a good idea, but it was a giant marrying a midget, and the new capital would be in the giant's territory. As I see it, the confederation in the beginning was Canada-on-the-Saint Lawrence successfully annexing the Maritimes. Of course, later, as more provinces were added, it became obvious that it was a working confederation after all.

 
 

But what are the results of all this. Even though the Province of Canada re-split itself back into two, Ontario and Québec, they remain giant provinces. There is no way that, even if you don't want to use population as a basis for electing Senators, you could successfully have just two Senators per province. So, keeping that in mind, this is the way it's been decided to allocate Canada's 105 appointed Senators.

 
 

I see it as a duodecimal system (2009/19), that is, based on twelve, or a dozen, like having a dozen hours on a clock face and two dozen hours in a day. Canadian Senators are based on historical regions, which are allocated either two dozen Senators, a half-dozen, or, in a special case, a quarter dozen. Here's the chart of Canadian Senate Divisions (Map by An Encore Performance From The Boys In The Band) that I find so interesting.

 
 

The two early outsized provinces, Ontario and Québec, are allocated two dozen Senators each. Their original partners, the Maritimes, also get two dozen, but broken down to NS 10, NB 10, and the smaller PE 4. When Canada expanded to the Pacific, again two dozen Senators were allocated to the four Western Provinces, at a half-dozen each. The system was perfectly balanced at two dozen per region until Newfoundland joined in 1949. What to do? This is the first region that didn't get two dozen, but an excellent solution was to allocate to it the same half-dozen that each Western Province has. Finally, the Territories in the North, including the recent (1999) Nunavut, have low populations, and aren't provinces, so that region gets a quarter dozen of Senators, one for each Territory. What a clever way to solve a problem like this.

 
 

The third direction to walk in from the rotunda is north, and this is the most spectacular corridor, called the Hall of Honour (Photo by Zipampa), used for processions by both speakers and for state funerals. At the end of this hall one passes through those metal fire doors that made all the difference, and after the short corridor, one enters the Reading Room of the Library of Parliament (Photo by Alejandro Erickson). One has difficulty listening to the guide—I think I did get it all—because one is so busy looking, and wondering where to look next (Photo by Ashwin Kumar). Perhaps at the cupola (Photo by Michaël Dumais) in the vaulted (arched) roof? Or maybe a little bit of everything (Photo by David Haberthür) in a composite view (click to enlarge)? That seems also what these gentlemen (Photo by Pete Souza) were trying to decide, when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper hosted US President Barack Obama on 19 February 2009.

 
 

That concludes the morning return to Parliament for the tour, so let's go back to the first day, post-Parliament and as of yet sans tour, and let's repost our map to help us get around. Click to enlarge so we can walk down from Parliament Hill to Wellington, as far as the Plaza Bridge (Photo by Peregrine981) over the Canal. Up ahead, Wellington becomes Rideau Street in the ByWard Market area of Lower town, but we'll go there later. For now, let's pay attention to the two magnificent structures opposite each other, the former Union Station on the right (#8 on the map) and the Château Laurier on the left (# 13).

 
 

EX-UNION STATION The 1912 Beaux-Arts ex-Union Station (Photo by D. Gordon E. Robertson) now masquerades as the Government Conference Centre so as not to be torn down. It didn't look enterable, so I just admired it from outside. We've already said a lot about it, but I'll add some background.

 
 

When the Canadian Pacific Railway built the Alexandra Provincial Bridge in 1901 (see map), it led to an earlier 1895 depot on this site. But in 1910, the Grand Trunk Railway was apportioned the east bank of the Canal to build both a station and a hotel to accommodate travelers, and both opened in 1912, so it's no accident that they are across the street from each other. There had been several stations in Ottawa, but the GTR decided to allow other railways to use this station, unifying rail traffic, hence the name Union Station. But the opening of the hotel and station in June that year was not a joyful experience, since the GTR general manager had gone down with the Titanic two months earlier. In any case, at the time of my Ottawa visit last September, it had just been the centennial of all these events.

 
 

As explained earlier, the rail situation changed radically in Ottawa in 1966 when operations moved to the edge of town. We traced at that time the route of the tracks northward along the Canal up to the side of the former station, and now we can continue. Two tracks went beyond the station under Plaza Bridge and ran immediately adjacent to the Canal side of the hotel in an enclosed structure that up to recently, in converted form, was used as a museum. They then went through Major's Hill Park (#32) and skirted Nepean Point (#31) as they entered the bridge.

 
 

The huge former station, as I have read, has never been well suited to be a conference center. In 2007, when plans were being considered for a return to commuter rail, the idea came up to revert the building back into a station. (There's also the matter since last December of the light-rail Transitway coming nearby.) It's considered to be feasible to do so, but it would require a long tunnel to reconnect the station to the existing railway tracks. Nevertheless, the government says the building's not for sale. But we shall see.

 
 

CHÂTEAU LAURIER Before we take a closer look at the Château Laurier, we have to discuss another very typical Canadian style of architecture, known as châteauesque. It's a revival style based on the French Renaissance architecture of the monumental country homes (châteaus) in the Loire Valley from the late 15C to the early 17C. The revival style features profuse ornamentation such as elaborate towers, spires, and steeply-pitched roofs. As a revival style it's not an imitation, just as the Gothic Revival of Parliament is not an imitation of the original Gothic style. Châteauesque buildings are typically asymmetrical, with a very broken roof line, and often have façades on multiple planes, some protruding, some receding.

 
 

The difficulty with building in this style is expressed right in its name. It's only suitable for very large, grandiose buildings, and you have to be wealthy if you want to build your own castle/château. That, or build a hotel. There are a number of examples around the world, including a now lost Vanderbilt Mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York. Probably the most grandiose and famous building in this style, certainly the most famous private residence, is in the US, Biltmore, built by one of the Vanderbilt's in Asheville, North Carolina between 1889 and 1895. Look at the turrets, the roofline, the asymmetry. But the country that really took this style to heart is Canada, and it was done primarily when, in the late 19C, the railways decided to build grandiose showplace hotels in cities across the country, and these hotels are prominent landmarks in these cities. Many of these hotels, though not all, are in the châteauesque style.

 
 

The only one I've stayed in (2008/21) is the Empress in Victoria BC (1904-1908). Although Victoria is on Vancouver Island, it was built to service Canadian Pacific's steamship line, whose main terminal was a block away. When in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies some years ago I saw the Banff Springs Hotel (Photo by Hedwig Storch) in Banff, Alberta (1887-8). When just in Winnipeg MB (2011/27), a half block from Union Station I saw the 1913 Fort Garry Hotel (Photo by Bobak Ha'Eri), although I didn't mention it online. And the most famous châteauesque hotel in the world is the Château Frontenac in Québec, which is also the most photographed hotel in the world, so recognizable is it. Québec's rail station is the Gare du Palais, which is also in this style. We'll discuss both these buildings in upcoming postings.

 
 

But here in Ottawa we have the Château Laurier (Photo by Philip Tellis). Notice the typical turrets, towers, dormers, broken roof line, different planes of the façade. Inside it features original Tiffany stained glass windows, and I stepped inside to relax for a while in the lobby. We should now mention again that the very Art Deco Supreme Court Building (Photo by Wladyslaw) on the other side of Parliament sports an at-the-time retro, yet updated, châteauesque roof.

 
 

OTTAWA LOCKS Now let's step back a few paces onto the Plaza Bridge (Photo by Padraic Ryan). If we look south (towards the camera in this picture) we see the calm Canal. Down at this level, looking north, we see Parliament on the left, the Château Laurier on the right, along with the ex-Union Station, and the location of the former tracks when trains went under the right arch of the Plaza Bridge and along the hotel's flank beyond. Looking at the water, it's hard to tell that there's a sudden drop straight ahead, although you can spot part of the uppermost lock crossing the Canal. So let's go back up on the bridge and look down from its north side.

 
 

You are looking at the eight Ottawa Locks (Photo by Josullivan.59), # 15, that bring the canal down through the cut in the bluffs to the level of the Ottawa River. This first picture has the advantage of having a close-up of the nearby first lock. The public can go down below to the park area and walk across one set of lock gates and back across another. I like this similar view (Photo by Bobak Ha'Eri) because it's sharper and focuses on the Alexandra Bridge in the distance. Both views have the Château Laurier directly on the right, and below that terrace is the now empty corridor that two train tracks used to go through to reach the bridge in the distance. When we walk down the stairs to the locks and walk along the path by the side of the locks (Photo by Joshuapaquin), we again see the hotel and that corridor, showing how this was once rail 'n' sail side by side. At least the "sail" is still there.

 
 

These are some of the canal lock cranking mechanisms (Photo by Gregbaker) along the way, and the view back up to the hotel (Photo by Derekfisher) is always great. Down at the river level, either from a boat or from Major's Hill Park, the view upward (Photo by Philipp Hienstorfer) has its own charm. Click to enlarge to spot a boat in one of the locks.

 
 

You can see in the picture the path on the left that leads you back up on the bluffs through the park. Orient yourself on our map, where the park is #32, how you come up right at both the bridge and Nepean Point (Photo by Padraic Ryan), #31, where you can (click) admire the view back at Parliament from the bleachers and visit Champlain. Good as the view is from there, why not walk across the Alexandra Interprovincial Bridge (Photo by SimonP), where the three right lanes are for vehicular traffic, but the entire left (west) lane is for pedestrians, cyclists, and rollerbladers, one of the widest pedestrian walkways I can recall on a bridge. It provides a skyline panorama of Ottawa, Gatineau, the river, and, most especially, Parliament. It's a nice walk, and it isn't that often that you can walk between provinces/states/countries. On the far end you're in Gatineau (Hull), and you've left Ontario for Québec.

 
 

It's a cantilever bridge (Photo by SimonP) supported by trusses, built by the Canadian Pacific Railway and opened in 1901. The bridge's main cantilevered center span (each half supported at only one end and reaching out) was, at the time of construction, the longest in Canada and the fourth longest in the world. Both records are now held by the Québec Bridge, which we'll discuss in due time. It was built for trains, for which there was, as we said, two tracks, but also had a lane for local electric trolley service and a lane for carriage traffic (given the era). Eventually, vehicular and pedestrian traffic joined the trains, and as of 1966, the trains disappeared.

 
 

So what about that view? It's spectacular from the Point, the Bridge, or Gatineau, where this view of Parliament on the bluffs (Photo by Maria Azzurra Mugnai) is from. Click to inspect the Victorian High Gothic of the Library with the Modern Gothic of the Centre Block and Peace Tower, and don't miss the gray-roofed gazebo on the right.

 
 

Nothing's better than a panorama (Photo by G. Baranski) to see it all. Click and start at the left to find the places we've discussed: the Alexandra Bridge; Champlain on Nepean Point; Major's Hill Park; the Ottawa Locks; the Château Laurier; a bit of the ex-Union Station; the bluffs of Parliament Hill; the West Block; and, after some other distinguished government buildings, the Supreme Court on the extreme right.

 
 

BYWARD MARKET Coming back from the bridge, I stopped in the cathedral and in some attractive courtyards with cafés, and went to the neighborhood around the ByWard Market on my way back to McGee's, since it was getting late. Note the ByWard Market itself by the icon on our map, but then realize that there is one thing very unusual about this area. Not only is the market of interest—I find they all are—but the entire neighborhood section of Lower Town is also defined by the market, and serves as Ottawa's restaurant and entertainment center (centre?). I didn't have much time to look around that evening, but found an Irish pub for dinner. Since it was a Saturday night, there was entertainment by a two-man band, so the evening became festive. Believe it or not, I found the perfect picture in Wikimedia Commons to memorialize the event. This is "my" pub, The Aulde Dubliner & Pour House (Photo by Ian Muttoo), which I came upon simply because it and its menu looked nice, and had dinner. The view faces west, and the front of the market building is literally across the street to the right. A street performer like this picture shows is not at all unusual for this area. As the sign says, the pub serves Guinness, and I ordered with dinner a favo(u)rite, a black and tan (half Guinness, half Bass Ale)—or maybe it was two.

 
 

The second day, after the tour of Parliament, I came back to this neighborhood in Lower Town to both see the market and check out the several blocks in all directions under its influence. In daylight, opposite the pub, I found the front of the ByWard Market (Photo by Tullia). Click to enlarge to read the name at the top, and you'll see in French it's Marché By. But the English version is slightly misspelled. Ottawa, like many cities, is divided into wards, and at one time, there was a ward named after John By, the By Ward, two words, equally stressed. It no longer exists as such, but the market within still bears a version of its name, ByWard, as one single word, rhyming with "upward".

 
 

This picture looking north, taken roughly from the area of "my" pub, shows how the period buildings surrounding the market building (Photo by Jcart1534) are filled with restaurants and cafés and serve as an extension of it. Inside the market building, this is a typical vegetable stand (Photo by Mike Babiarz) in Canada's oldest continuously operating farmers' market

 
 

RIDEAU FALLS After browsing in the area, I took a longish walk through the Lower Town northeast (check the map) to the park area around the Rideau Falls (# 37), which I thought was a nice way to end the visit to Ottawa, right from the point that Champlain first spotted it. The map shows how the falls are actually split in two by Green Island, itself a pleasant park area. Note on the map how there's a bridge across the river just before each branch of Rideau Falls (Photo by SimonP) so that you can stand above each part and watch the water shoot forward into the Ottawa River, with the Gatineau River opposite. This picture must have been taken in a high-flow time like springtime. In September it was much more sedate. The falls are 12 m (37 ft) high. It struck me odd that, while most cities cling to their rivers, Ottawa clings to the Canal instead, and the river and falls that started it all are actually in quiet parkland well east of the center of town.

 
 

You may have been wondering what the red road was on the map. It's a collection of streets in Ottawa and Gatineau that's referred to as Confederation Boulevard and is described as a "ceremonial and discovery route" covering most if not all of the places of interest. Dignitaries are driven along it and the public can follow it as well. Still, walking is better.

 
 

I spent the latter part of the second day back at McGee's, relaxing and writing. After breakfast in my bay window the next morning, a quiet Sunday, I walked back to the Transitway to get a bus back to the VIA station, then took the train back to Montréal to connect to another train to Québec in the afternoon. This was the only connection in Montréal where I didn't have to stay overnight, so I just had lunch in the station before completing the final third of this Canadian Trio.

 
 

There are still three items of interest involving Ottawa, so they will appear in the next posting as separate essays, with the posting after that about magnificent Québec (City).

 
 
 
Back  |   Top  |   Previous Series   |   Next Series