Four nights in Ottawa

Parliament's Centre Block undergoing restoration

We rested little in Ottawa, there were so many (too many) sights/sites to see in our Nation's capital. And we ate well too.

Canada's Parliament: 
The "Centre Block", with its iconic Peace Tower, is undergoing a major, 10+ year refit. So the House of Commons and the Senate have both been moved to newly refurbished "temporary" (10+ years!) locations. We toured both.

The new Senate digs are now in the former train station across from the Chateau Laurier. The building itself is impressive, but the Senate chamber less so. Perhaps this is coloured by current controversy over the role and makeup of the Senate in Canada. (Senators are not elected. The Prime Minister selects them. They can remain until age 75 years, so the Senate is made up of a real mix of people across the political divide.)

The new House of Commons is in the East Block, and is impressive. They did a great job in the move. Fitting for such an important institution. Recommended.

The new "temporary" House of Commons

Laurier House: David lived just one block away for 4 years and never visited this former home of two of Canada's Prime Ministers (Sir Wilfred Laurier and William Lyon McKenzie King). We really like the tour of the house. The tour guides (students working for the Summer) were very enthusiastic (perhaps because we were early in their season). Recommended.

Canadian Museum of History (Gatineau/Hull): Formerly known as the Museum of Civilization, we made the mistake of not allotting enough time. This museum is huge and really too much for a single visit. We appreciated the museum being very forthright in presenting how "we" (European colonizers) mistreated Canada's indigenous people, both in the beginning and continuing well into the 20th century (indeed, it still continues). Recommended (but not all at once)  

National Gallery of Canada: Another site too much for one visit, this time we approached it with a plan to only see a part of it. The permanent collection of Canadian art is wonderful. Laid out in approximate historical timing, from early 18th and 19th century until current. Of course, the Group of Seven figured prominently. Inserted everywhere were also pieces of indigenous art from appropriate same time periods (one Inuit carving on caribou antlers stole the show for us). The modern art section left David perplexed, especially one 2-colour simple painting ("Paranoid") which seemed any child could do better. Recommended (but not all at once) 

Norval Morrisseau

Tom Thomson

Emily Carr

Canadian Museum of War: We had problems with this museum. We found the early displays of conflicts in Canada prior to late1800s informative, as well as the Boer War information. The First and Second World War sections were also good. After these, the museum seem to lose its footing: there is no sense of sequence/timing for the Korean war, and following this, the displays got lost trying to track the "cold war",  true peacekeeping, and Canada's other military involvements. Throughout all exhibits/sections, there was a general lack of a larger perspective (such as why wars started, what they may or may not have accomplished, or what were the views and affects on those of the "other" side) and far to great of a Canada-centric focus (yes, it is the Canadian Museum of War, but the conflicts Canada has participated in certainly involved others). Sort of recommended.

Ottawa has changed a lot since David went to graduate school here in the early 80s. On the positive, the city seems much more diverse (as is Canada), with people from all over the world. On the negative, there seemed a huge increase in street people and homelessness (especially around Rideau Street and the Byward Market area). Not likely to get better in the short term with Ontario's current Doug Ford government.

We also met up and had dinner with a mentor/colleague/friend of David's. And we made it out to dinner across the river in Vieux Hull, Québec (now part of Gatineau). Back in the 80s, David spent quite a few late nights over there (bars in Hull closed later than those in Ottawa). Sadly, for those who remember, the "Les Raftsmen Brasserie" in Hull/Gatineau seems to be gone.

Next stop: Québec (city)