Gatineau
Though firmly incorporated within the Capital Region, GATINEAU (formerly Hull), lying just across the river from Ottawa in the province of Québec, remains quite distinct and predominantly francophone. For years it served mainly as Ottawa’s nightspot as its bars were open two hours longer than those in the capital, but with this alcoholic advantage now gone – and its paper mills relegated to minor importance – Gatineau struggles to compete with its neighbour. It does, however, have one major museum, the Musée Canadien des Civilisations, and it also edges the handsome scenery of Gatineau Park, whose assorted lakes and forested hills cover no less than 360 square kilometres; the park is a prime spot for hiking, mountain biking and cross-country skiing.
Ottawa’s festivals
Federal funding ensures national holidays – especially Canada Day on July 1 (w canadascapital.gc.ca) – are celebrated in style, while seasonal festivals are as lavish as any in the country. The tourist office has the full calendar of events or check out w ottawafestivals.ca. The selection below is arranged chronologically.
Winterlude
Jan and Feb w canadascapital.gc.ca. A snow-and-ice extravaganza spread over three weekends from late January to mid-February. Concentrated around the frozen Rideau Canal, it includes ice sculptures at Confederation Park – renamed the Crystal Garden for the duration – and snow sculptures around Dows Lake. Other events include speed-skating, bed- and dog-sled races.
Canadian Tulip Festival
Eleven days beginning in early May w tulipfestival.ca. This is the oldest of Ottawa’s festivals. It began in 1945 when the Dutch sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to the city both to honour Canadian soldiers who had liberated the Netherlands and as a thank-you for sheltering Queen Juliana, who had taken refuge in Ottawa during the war. The bulbs are planted around Parliament, along the canal and around Dows Lake, a gigantic splash of colour accompanied by concerts, parades, fireworks and a huge craft show.
Ottawa International Jazz Festival
Two weeks in late June/early July w ottawajazzfestival.com. One of Ottawa’s most popular festivals, showcasing more than four hundred musicians. The main stage is in Confederation Park with concerts several times daily. In addition, local bands play around Byward Market and at city clubs.
Bluesfest
Twelve days in July w ottawabluesfest.ca. This is Canada’s largest festival of blues and gospel with concerts held in various venues, and free shows in Confederation Park.
The Canadian War Museum
The exemplary Canadian War Museum (armuseum.ca) is housed in a striking modern building on Lebreton Flats, a somewhat desolate parcel of land beside the Ottawa River about 2km west of Confederation Square. The museum is divided into four main display areas, which work their way through Canada’s military history with accompanying text and quotations. The first gallery, the “Battleground: Wars on Our Soil, earliest times to 1885”, features a good selection of Native Canadian weaponry – tomahawks, muskets and so forth – plus a particularly well-researched section on the War of 1812. However, the museum really gets into its stride when it reaches World War I in the second gallery. There are lots of fascinating photographs, but it’s the incidental detail that impresses most: Canada was keen for its soldiers to use a Canadian rifle, but the end product – the Ross Rifle – often jammed, while the rum ration came in barrels labelled “SRD” (Service Regimental Depot), which the troops re-branded as “Seldom Reaches Destination”. The section on World War II is similarly intriguing and there’s good stuff on the Cold War too – including details of the strange case of the Russian defector Igor Gouzenko, who was so scared of retribution that he was often interviewed with a bag over his head. Finally, the Lebreton Gallery is a large hangar packed with all sorts of military hardware, such as tanks, armoured cars and artillery pieces.
Parliament Hill
Perched high above the Ottawa River, on the limestone bluff that is Parliament Hill, Canada’s postcard-pretty Parliament Buildings have a distinctly ecclesiastical air, their spires, pointed windows and soaring clock tower amounting to “a stupendous splodge of Victoriana” as travel writer Jan Morris expressed it. Begun in 1859 and seventy years in the making, the complex comprises a trio of sturdy neo-Gothic structures, whose architectural certainties were both a statement of intent for the emergent country and a demonstration of the long reach of the British Empire. The Parliament Buildings were designed to be both imperial and imperious, but they certainly didn’t overawe the original workmen, who urinated on the copper roof to speed up its oxidization.
Two popular events are staged on Parliament Hill: the Changing of the Guard, when the Governor General’s Foot Guards march onto the Hill dressed in full ceremonial uniform of bright-red tunics and bearskin helmets (late June to late Aug daily 10–10.30am); and a free summer-evening sound and light show (early July to mid-Sept), illustrating Canada’s history with alternate French and English performances nightly.
Dominating architectural proceedings on Parliament Hill is Centre Block, home of the Senate and the House of Commons and in fact a replacement for the original building, which was destroyed by fire in 1916. The Peace Tower, rising from the middle of the facade, was added in 1927 as a tribute to Canadians who served in World War I. The tower, which offers fine views over the Ottawa River, holds some superb fan vaulting and a Memorial Chamber complete with a Book of Remembrance. The tower is not part of the guided tour, whose (changeable)itinerary includes a quick gambol round the House of Commons, where the Speaker’s chair is partly made of English oak from Nelson’s flagship Victory, and the red-carpeted Senate, which, with its murals of scenes from World War I, is surmounted by a beautiful gilded ceiling. The debates in both the House of Commons and the Senate are open to the public, who can observe proceedings from the public galleries.