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.

An Aviary

 Ground was broken in 1905 for the building of what is now the Canadian Museum of Nature.

The Geological Survey of Canada set up shop here, including exhibition space.

Early on, it would serve another space. With the destruction by fire of the original Centre Block on Parliament Hill, the building housed a temporary Parliament while the rebuild was on.

Wilfrid Laurier, who had done much in bringing the project to life, laid in state here after his death.

The next gallery space is the Bird Gallery. Many of the display cases are organized thematically.

History

Rounding out this visit today inside the Earth Gallery.

This large rock is rich in copper and nickel.

It was time to move onto the next gallery space. I headed out into the Queens Lantern, where some of the history of the building is examined. It is officially the Victoria Memorial Museum Building, originally built in honour of the Queen. Aside from the natural world collections, this building has housed other elements of the national museums at one point or another.

The administrative side and the larger collections of this museum are over in Gatineau.

There are stories that the building is haunted. Some suggest it's Wilfrid Laurier, whose body laid in state here before his funeral.

There have been renovations over time, including back in the 1990s.

A larger one was undertaken in the first decade of this century. Improvements were made, including additions to galleries, seismic reinforcements, and the addition of the Queens Lantern, which replaced a stone tower of the original building that had to be removed.

The Queens Lantern is a delight inside, very modern, but fitting well with the older architecture. It was dedicated by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010, and is named both for her and for Victoria.

The Moon overhead is irresistible for the photographer.

New Era And The Bloodshed Of War

 More views inside St. Onuphrius today as I walked around the church.

Along the wall opposite from the church on this side were photographs and artifacts showing the progress of one of our western cities, Winnipeg, as the 19th century gave way to the 20th century.

Another look at the church.

Eatons was a retail company in Canada, and much of their business during this era was through catalogues.

I went to the last gallery, which starts in 1914 and goes to the current day. This display case includes a bust of Wilfrid Laurier, the prime minister whose time in office straddled the 19th and 20th centuries.

When war broke out in Europe, Canada would be in it from the beginning, and Canadian forces would do extraordinary things over four years of brutal warfare.

The Lee-Enfield rifle became the standard weapon for Canadians in that war. The tunic here belonged to Alexander Reid, who served in the ranks from the beginning, and served with bravery.

This painting is Gas Attack, Flanders, a 1915 painting by Alfred Bastien.

Canadians did things during that war that by all rights were impossible, but did them anyway. They earned a reputation as shock troopers. This photograph shows Canadian soldiers looking happy, and rightfully so- they had just won the Battle of Vimy Ridge.