Hallowed Ground And Scoundrels

Picking up where I left off yesterday, a look up gives us the ceiling of the Memorial Chamber.

This book of remembrance is for those who died during the Korean War.

And this is for those who have died in service, other than the Korean War, since 1945. On the day I was here, names of Canadian dead from the Afghan conflict were displayed.

Here we have one more look at the heart of the room, containing the names of dead from the First World War.

I stepped back outside, pausing to photograph the other flanking wall of the entrance.

And then from the upper arcade I photographed down into Confederation Hall, still showing Christmas trim.

I came downstairs, where the Usual Suspects are mounted on walls between Confederation Hall and the lobby area outside the House of Commons. The portraits of prime ministers, along with other art in the building, will be removed for the duration of the project. This trio includes John Diefenbaker at far left, Pierre Trudeau at centre, and Joe Clark at the right.

Here we have John Turner at left and Kim Campbell at right.

Across from them is Brian Mulroney.

And Jean Chretien.

And today I finish with the portrait of Paul Martin, the last of the former prime ministers to have his portrait hanging here. The predecessor to the current PM has not yet had his official portrait done, perhaps because Stephen Harper worries that his portrait might capture the terrible secret that he's hidden for decades- that he's a vampire, and not one of the sparkly Edward Cullen variety of vampire.

The Usual Suspects

Leaving the Memorial Chamber, I paused to photograph the other lion carved into the wall here.

The nearby window also caught my eye, as did another of the nearby carvings.

I also took a chance to photograph down into Confederation Hall, as that was where I was going.

Coming down a flight of stairs, I paused to photograph down the hall that leads to the Commons foyer. Portraits of the prime ministers line both walls, and the last members of a tour group were headed that way. Portraits are generally done when a prime minister has left office. The previous PM, Stephen Harper, has not yet had his done. I suspect if he does, it might be a sort of Dorian Gray situation where he stops aging and the portrait captures his inner monster as time progresses, hence the delay. :)

I showed you a couple of the portraits earlier in the series, and I've got four more of them here, hence the post title. John Turner succeeded Pierre Trudeau as Liberal leader and Prime Minister of the country in 1984, spending merely eleven weeks in the job before being turfed out in the election he called.

The man who defeated him was the Conservative leader Brian Mulroney, who would occupy the office from 1984-1993.

The Liberals retook the reins of power that fall, and Jean Chretien won elections as leader on three occasions, serving as prime minister from 1993-2003.

His finance minister and party rival Paul Martin succeeded him in office, becoming Liberal leader and Prime Minister when Chretien retired. In the election that followed, Martin's Liberals lost majority status in Parliament, holding on as a minority government until 2006 when the tables turned. The newly reconstituted Conservatives came back to power, and the dread age of darkness that is otherwise known as the Rule of Stephen Harper, Dark Lord of the Sith, began.

In Confederation Hall

Leaving the Memorial Chamber takes one out through this passage, and down a staircase back to the main level in Centre Block. The visitor ends up in the same corridor that leads west to the House of Commons.

Along this corridor are the portraits of recent prime ministers, done after their tenure in office is complete. Here we have two prime ministers, John Turner and Kim Campbell, whose times at the helm of the country were brief. Turner was a Liberal PM after Pierre Trudeau stepped down, losing the next election to Brian Mulroney. When Mulroney's tenure came to an end, Campbell replaced him as Conservative leader and Prime Minister- only to lose the federal election some months later.

The way out goes through Confederation Hall. This grand space is a focal point for the building, with corridors branching off for the Commons, the Senate, and the Library of Parliament from here. It was decorated for Christmas during my visit. I hope you've enjoyed this tour. I will likely do one more tour in here before the building closes up for the scheduled rehabilitation work, which is due to be underway in September.