Parliament Hill, Ottawa
Sunday, 12th June 2005 by James Turnbull
Parliament Hill is the seat of power for the Government of Canada. The white dome to the north is covering the Library of Parliament which is currently being restored. The library was built in 1876 and is the only part of the parliament that survived a fire in 1916.
To the front of the building you can see the shadow cast by the Peace Tower, a memorial to those Canadians who died in World War I.
Thanks: Dean, Corwin, Bob Wong, Greg Small, Don Campbell, Pat Suwalski, Joe Tremblay, Zibblsnrt, Ivan M, velusip, MatB, Dilip Andrade, Dmitri, Joe Dawson, Fernando, Nick Mahon & Quinn Kuiken
One thing I noticed, from looking around the Ottawa area, is that a surprisingly high percentage of houses have backyard swimming pools. They seem to be somewhat more common on the Quebec side than in Ontario, though it’s hard to be sure. I say “surprisingly high” because the season for using pools in Ottawa’s climate must be quite short.
Peter, as a canadian citizen living not far from our nation’s capital, I will be happy to inform you that the summer season in this part of the world is not nearly as short as you may think. The abundance of backyard swimming pools is no doubt related to the number of overpaid civil servants and public sector employees that live in the region. This region has a proud history of wasted publice funds (ie ADscam)
There are no demonstrators, I call shenanigans!
It is true that we have lots of pools. A couple of years ago some french group came to my town near Ottawa and called our city, “the country of pools”. I would say tht about 75% of homes in my town have pools including mine. View Placemark
You can see some pools here directly in Ottawa View Placemark
Forgot to link to page. View Placemark
I found some great pictures to show. http://www.thebans.com/beautifulcanada/Ottawa.htm There you can see inside the library and some views from top of the Peace Tower.
BTW, its pretty cool to go up the tower and see all the bells of the Carillon. The biggest bell is 22 400 lbs !!!
The Peace Tower is also the highest structure in Ottawa. Local zoning by-lawas stipulate that no other building may exceed the height of the Peace Tower as a means to enshrine the memorial to Canada’s fallen soldiers.
However, if you go on a tour of Parlaiment where there’s just a few people in your group ask to go up the Peace Tower and get a view from the very top. There’s a small viewing platform just below the roofline with an amazing view of the Ottawa-Cartier region.
You can go up there with big groups. We were a 50ish people groupe once and all up there at once. Only 7 can fit in the elevator though so it takes a little longer to get everyone up there.
Chris G:
The Peace Tower is not the tallest building in Ottawa, there are a number within a couple of blocks that are taller. There are height restrictions on nearby buildings, with the maximum height getting greater as you get farther from the hill, with the aim being to keep the Center Block (Which the peace tower and library are attached to) the most prominent buildings. Unfortuneatly, though, these have been circumvented by developers in a couple of instances.
It’s very unfortunate that since oogl maps updated, I’ve noticed a CLOUD over Parliament Hill and the Peace Tower. Right over top! I’m very disappointed.
don said: “The abundance of backyard swimming pools is no doubt related to the number of overpaid civil servants and public sector employees that live in the region. This region has a proud history of wasted publice funds”
I would suggest you may be looking at nearby Rockliffe Park, the most expensive real estate in the country. It is more likely that these are homes of overpaid CEOs of private companies and ambassadorial types from other countries. Ordinary civil servants and especially public sector employees could not possibly afford such luxury. Look for them in the ‘burbs in semis, bungalows and apartments. Some of them can afford a small pool in the backyard.