Democracy Now

Posted on Wed 04 July 2007 by alex in general

One of the interesting things about the Canadian parliament is how similar it is to ours. The whole set of buildings practically apes our own palace of Westminster. This includes the clock tower that chimes Big Ben's familiar notes with the occasional rendition of the national anthem. Having said that this place does have a few advantages over our seat of government. For one thing the view it has over the Ottawa river is a lot more impressive than sitting level with the murky Thames. Because of the extra space it also means people are free to wonder around the whole set of buildings which is littered with various statues and tributes, bronze being a particular favourite. There is even a cattery for strays that wonder around the hill.

The Rideu canal which ends it's run entering the Ottawa river is pretty impressive given the many locks needed for the final drop. Apparently it was built by us as a military canal just in case there were ever hostilities between the UK and US. It is considerably wider than most UK canals as it was designed explicitly to handle steam ships.

In other news I have brought a present for Fliss I'm reliably informed she will love :-)