The newest statue on Parliament Hill is the War of 1812 Monument, installed in 2014 to mark the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812-1815, fought between the British and the Americans (for those of you who are a little fuzzy on this chapter in Canadian history). The installation ceremony in 1814 was on the … More War of 1812 Monument is fantasy
The Canadian War Museum is always worth a visit and in 2017 there’s a special exhibit marking the centennial of the First World War battle at Vimy Ridge in 1917, a “battle” which has assumed enormous symbolic value for Canadians. Among ordinary Canadians, Vimy Ridge, more an “engagement” than a battle, is arguably Canada’s most … More The “Battle” of Vimy Ridge
What do we call the original people? Indians was eventually the common name that the English gave to the original or Indigenous peoples they encountered in what is now Canada (before, the French called the original people les savages). More common terms for Americans are Amerindian, American Indian, or American Native. The term “First Nations” … More Indigenous history in Ottawa
To a visiting European, Canada must appear as a very strange country, a string of urban conurbations scattered across a very big hunk of geography separated from each other by a lot of space, both physical and psychic. There has been a traditional Canadian preoccupation with Canadian “identity”. The desire for more independence, accommodating the … More Canadian identity
Walking Tours of Ottawa that Go Beneath the Surface 