August 22, 2019
These are two of several buildings located across Wellington Street from the Parliament complex (hence the term “south of the border”) which are still considered to be within the official Parliamentary “boundary”.
PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
When I was in town Tuesday I was tempted to knock on the door to see if Justin could come out and play but since it was a work-day I presume he was busy inside plotting the country’s defense against Trump’s inevitable attempt to purchase the country…
The Prime Minister’s residence is located north of town. I drove past the entrance on my way out of town on Wednesday when I drove out to see the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s “Musical Ride Centre” where they keep the horses (yes, there is a reason they are called “mounted” police) and also has facilities where they can practice their ceremonial routines.
CENTER FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
It took some time to find the answer but I finally determined what this building used to be and what it is now destined to become.
Until it moved to it’s new home on the northeast side of town in 1998 this building used to house the US Embassy. Here is a photo I found online showing the ceremony in June of 2017 when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the transformation the building would be undergoing. Canada is very proud of it’s roots and the multitude of indigenous people throughout the country and this center will focus on celebrating those roots.
(Photo credit: Ottawa Citizen/ Sean Kirkpatrick/CP)
The three banners hanging in front of the building represent the First Nations Assembly, the Inuit peoples and the Métis peoples. Their flags now fly above the building along with the Canadian flag. You’ll see those later in this post.
Something I found very interesting about this building was the use of large TV monitors in the windows which allows for the constantly changing display of high-quality images.
And here’s a better look at the flags flying above the building:
The Métis flag is merely the infinity symbol displayed on a blue background. The Métis peoples are generally found in western Canada.
Another interesting thing about this building (whose actual occupancy is still a work in process) is a large wooden structure being build next to it.
The reason why those photos were taken so close to the target is the heavy wrought-iron fence which stretches in front of the building:
I will be interested to see (online) what this structure ends up being, and look forward to visiting this building again next year when I return to Canada.
johnboystravelblog 