The Brand New Century

 This photograph was taken after the fire that gutted the original Centre Block. The building would have to be demolished, all except for the Library of Parliament at back, which had been saved thanks to the quick action of a clerk in shutting the heavy iron doors that saved the contents of that part of the building.

This being wartime, there were allegations of sabotage and arson. 

Artifacts of the time are here.

While Parliament temporarily met at what's now the Museum of Nature, work was quickly underway to build a new Centre Block.

A few years earlier, as the 19th century gave way to the 20th century, Canadians went overseas to fight in the South African War, a guerilla war of sorts, alongside British troops. Some of the personal artifacts of that time are displayed here.

It's period photographs of the time, shown on a rotating digital screen, that bring the story to life- young men, more than a century on, far from home.