VALUABLES AND BEAUTIES OF CANADA

(OTTAWA)

SIMO JELAČA, Ph. D.

OTTAWA

Ottawa was once named Bytown after Colonel John By, the engineer who oversaw the construction of the Rideau Canal. In 1855, Bytown was enlarged and registered as Ottawa. Construction of the parliament building began in 1860 and was completed in 1866. The Confederation of Canada was created a year later in 1867, so the first deputies immediately began working in it.

Ottawa is the national capital of Canada. It is a picturesque and safe city, one of the safest cities in Canada. Ottawa is a cosmopolitan city, with museums, galleries, performing arts and festivals, but it still has a sense of small town and exceptional accessibility. English and French are the two main languages spoken in Ottawa. You will also hear many other languages, including Chinese, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian and Serbian, as Ottawa is a multicultural city, with about 25 percent of its inhabitants coming from other countries.

The Parliament of Canada, “Parliament Hill”, stands high above the Ottawa River, decorated in the Neo-Gothic style of buildings built in the second half of the 19th century. The most prominent is the Tower of Peace, which divides the House of Commons and the Senate. In front of the Parliament building is the Eternal Flame, lit in 1966 to commemorate the centenary of the Canadian Confederation, and behind the building is a sculpture garden. During the summer, the change of guard takes place on the lawn in front of the Lower House of Parliament, weather permitting. Below Parliament Hill is a beautiful trail that leads along the Ottawa River.

In Ottawa, two rivers join: the Ottawa River, which comes from the west, and the Rideau River, flows from the south, on its right side. There are many parks and recreation areas in Ottawa. One of the best and largest is Mooney’s Bay Park, located on the right side of the Rideau River, with the city’s sandy beach. The river level is regulated by a dam above the waterfall in Hedge back park, keeping the river level high, during the summer, tuned for training and federal kayak competition. During those days, hundreds of tents were set up to sell souvenirs and food. Thousands of visitors enjoy listening to the performances of music bands. Immediately below the bridge are waterfalls, a wonderful natural attraction, a place for daily visits of many visitors and regular walkers. The sound of water pleases everyone's ear, while hundreds of birds chirp on all the trees above the rocks and the river. Millions of drops are scattered from the fall of the water, through which the light is refracted in the form of rainbow colors. That's where the kids enjoy themselves. On the other side of the river, through parallel dams, the water level in the Rideau canal is regulated, which freezes in winter and thousands of skaters enjoy it. This rink is over seven kilometers long (7.8 km) and is one of the longest in the world. Many students come to the university in the winter on skates.

Ottawa is a city of about 1.1 million inhabitants, of almost all nations of the world. It is very nice to live in Ottawa, even in the winter when the snow is deep and temperatures drop to minus 40° C. The streets are cleaned on the same day when the snow falls and people are adequately trained. School buses usually run on time.

Ottawa is a national capital and a cosmopolitan city. The main industry in Ottawa is the federal government and the central point in the city is the Parliament of Canada. The city is, by the way, a cultural center and a convenient and beautiful place to live and visit.

The following sights characterize Ottawa:

- The name Ottawa comes from Algonquin's word Adawe, which means trade, as it has always been an important business center.

- In 1857, Queen Victoria decided that Ottawa would be the capital of Canada.

- Ottawa is the seventh coldest capital in the world. Others that are among the coldest are: Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, Astana in Kazakhstan, Moscow, Helsinki, Reykjavik in Iceland and Tallinn in Estonia.

- There are 4 different seasons in Ottawa, of which spring is beautiful in terms of greenery, and autumn is the most beautiful in terms of tree colors. Summers are quite warm, and winters are sometimes too cold.

- Almost half of the population is younger than 35, which makes Ottawa one of the youngest cities in the country.

- There are 14 museums in Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Civilization, Canadian Children's Museum, Canadian Postal Museum, The National Gallery of Canada, Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Laurier House, Royal Canadian Mint, Library and Archives Canada, Currency Museum of the Bank of Canada, Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian War Museum, Canadian Science and Technology Museum, and the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum. Of all the museums, the most visited are the Museum of Civilization and the Museum of Aviation. The National Gallery is also very important.

- There are 35 big festivals in Ottawa. The Canadian Tulip Festival, which is held every May, is one of the most famous.

- The Chateau Laurier Hotel is beautiful and is said to be visited by the spirit of Charles Melville Hayes, the president of the company that built the hotel. Hayes died on the Titanic, 12 days before the hotel opened.

- In Ottawa, there is an amphibious vehicle, intended exclusively for tourists, which goes on the streets on wheels like a bus, and on the Ottawa River as a hydrobus. Driving in that vehicle, especially while sailing on the river, is very attractive.

- Visitors to Ottawa can also stay in a hostel that used to be a prison in the 19th century.

The impression is that there is no more beautiful city in Canada than Ottawa during late autumn, the second half of September and the first half of October, when all the trees turn almost red and look really unreal. In Ottawa, as the capital of the country, Ottawa Day is celebrated every first of July, when almost all its inhabitants attend a big fireworks display. The so-called Winterlund is held in Ottawa during the month of February, where artists make ice figures in the park. Every winter, different figures are made, which are especially attractive for school-age children.

The history of Ottawa is not without destruction. There were two large fires. The first fire was in 1900, which destroyed hundreds of buildings, mostly lumberjacks. The second fire in 1916 broke out in the Parliament in the central block. The only part of the undamaged building was the Parliament Library.

The city of Ottawa is a pleasant place for visitors, enthusiasts. And not only is it the seat of the federal government of Canada, it is a center of high technological potential, and has more engineers, scientists and doctors of science per capita than any other city in Canada.

Ranked as the most educated city in the country and the fourth cleanest city of the 300 largest cities around the world. Ottawa is also the agricultural center of eastern Ontario and has more agricultural land than any other city in Canada. Ottawa is home to more than 1,800 technology companies, which employ more than 76,000 people. There are five universities and two faculties in Ottawa. There are 247 open ice rinks.

Ice skating on Rideau canal

There are also seven mountain ski resorts.

Most Ontario Indians still live in reservations, in their original homes in southern Ontario. About 15,000 Indians live around Ottawa.

The political leader of the Indian band is called the main one (after the Ojibwe language). Many Ottawa Indian children love to go hunting and fishing with their fathers. Women wear long dresses with sleeves and usually wear leather moccasins on their legs. Storytelling is very important for Indian cultures.

Nоte: Author lives in Ottawa since 2011.

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