Paying A Visit To Parliament Hill

 It was time to take a stroll around Parliament Hill. The work around Centre Block continues, with large portions of the structure covered with scaffolding and drapes.

East Block is one of the original buildings on site. There is some work happening with this building, but here and there.

This door on East Block always catches my eye.

There are a number of monuments and statues on the Hill. This is the newest of them, commemorating the War of 1812. It stands out in front of East Block. In the background and across the street lies the offices of the Prime Minister. It is the only Parliamentary Block not on Parliament Hill itself.

Nearby, a statue of Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier stands, looking out into Confederation Square, which is dominated by the National War Memorial.

Downslope, we have a statue of William Lyon Mackenzie King, another of our great Prime Ministers.

I headed around the perimeter, noting the contrast between East Block and Centre Block.

I took a shot downslope. The Rideau Canal is down there through the trees. The Hill slopes are heavily wooded.

This statue honours George Brown, a journalist and politician who was one of the driving forces of Confederation.

The view across takes in the National Gallery and Major's Hill Park.

Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine were co-premiers of the United Canadas, otherwise known as Ontario and Quebec. Following a period of unrest, these two legislative leaders paved the way for Confederation through responsible government.

A sundial stands here near the monument, dating two centuries old, a legacy of Colonel By and his men.

A Country In Progress

 This beautiful sleigh was made in Montreal during the first half of the 19th century.

Medals and chalices- a nod to the growing use of precious metals in British North America.

Montreal also saw the rise of sports clubs- from cricket to curling to lacrosse. That last sport, a game played for thousands of years by indigenous peoples, is one of Canada's two national sports.

William Logan was the first director of the Geological Survey of Canada, a government organization that went out to study the land, advancing knowledge as they went. Their first headquarters was in Montreal before moving to Ottawa.

Medals and an octant presented to Logan for the work of the GSC are displayed here.

The 1830s saw a time of rebellions in the colonies. In their wake, two colonial legislatures- Upper Canada and Lower Canada, what is today Ontario and Quebec- were fused into one. It was an ungainly fusion. And yet it would lay the groundwork for Canada becoming what it is today.

The Canadas had two co-premiers, Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine, who went to work with an agenda for responsible government by the people. 

They had the support of the governor-general at the time, Lord Elgin. Their work would lead to Confederation in the years following their time in office.

Colonial politicians would come together to discuss the formation of a country.

A big factor in that lay south of the border, where the Americans had ambitions looking north, and spent years locked in the brutal fighting of the Civil War. Canadian leaders looked at what was happening to the south, and took it as an example of what not to follow.

The Country Finds Its Own Path

Carrying on where I left off, this beautiful sleigh is the Cabriolet sleigh, exhibited in London in 1851, and typical of a homegrown industry in the Canadian colonies in making such items.

Also in Montreal, until it transferred to Ottawa later in the century, was the Geological Survey of Canada, doing field work and scientific work. Its public museum is the predecessor of the national museums of the country, seven of which are in the national capital region.

The GSC was led by William Logan, whose mission of documentation, mapping, and learning as much as possible about the country was carried out by the agency. Logan was decorated internationally and earned a knighthood for his work. Canada's highest mountain is named in his honour.

Here we have a crest of the developing country before it was a country.

The 1830s saw rebellions in the Canadas. The response was to forge one legislative entity out of Upper and Lower Canada- today's Ontario and Quebec. An ill-thought out idea, but it brought together two men as co-premiers whose work did much to pave the way for Confederation.

They were Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, and they advocated for responsible government with controls over their own affairs. This enraged the Tory opposition, but won the support of the British governor-general, Lord Elgin.

This is a bust of Lord Elgin.

The country such as it was at the time is seen here. Rupert's Land, to the north and west, was effectively the place of the Hudson's Bay Company and the many indigenous tribes.

Confederation was coming. The work of Baldwin and Lafontaine would pay off what would end up becoming Canada as we know it today.

Architecture And Monuments

 Here along the path we have a good view of the Library of Parliament. In the foreground behind the fence is the statue of John A. Macdonald, the country's first prime minister.

A look out across the river at Gatineau.

Here along the path we also have this old bell, preserved for posterity. This bell was in the original Centre Block, which was destroyed by fire in 1916. 

Plaques in English and French tell its story.

I have dearly missed walking this path with its wonderful views. The National Gallery and Notre Dame can be seen off in the distance.

A detail shot of the Library of Parliament.

We have the first signs of spring on the bushes on the other side of the fence.

Another monument- this to Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, the co-premiers of the United Canadas, a colonial legislature consisting of what's today Ontario and Quebec, which was in place for a number of years in the first part of the 19th century. Their work towards responsible government paved the path for Canadian Confederation.

A sundial, restored a century ago and on this spot. Parliament Hill was once called Barrack's Hill, and soldiers lived here before Ottawa was selected as the capital. Colonel John By, who led the building of the Rideau Canal, had one erected.

Across the gap, where the Canal itself is, lies Major's Hill Park. A statue of the Colonel himself can be seen there near the cliff's edge.

Multiple signs around the fence go into detail on the ongoing work on the Hill. This one is actually outdated- the West Block was the first section to be rehabilitated, and is now where the House of Commons is sitting. But the process of work is accurate for all of the project.

The slope here is a steep one, with the trees waiting to wake up and leaf out.