New, younger government puts fitness on display
OTTAWA—They run. They cycle. They swim. They stage spontaneous pushup challenges among themselves. “They” are Justin Trudeau’s amazing, cross-fit cabinet—an inspiration to some, no doubt, and a pack of supercilious showboats to others. What they are, indisputably, is different from their paunchy, wheezy, old-before-their-time predecessors. There were exceptions on the Conservative front bench, of course: […]
Portrait-gallery plan popular as government consults on fate of old U.S. embassy
A consensus seems to be building around the idea of resurrecting a plan to turn the old U.S. embassy at 100 Wellington St. in Ottawa into a national portrait gallery. “The portrait gallery was a very good plan, Canada needs a national portrait gallery,” said David Jeane, president of Heritage Ottawa. “Canada has a huge collection of […]
Bill Rodgers remembered: ‘It was 1978 and to six-year-old me, he was a star.’
It was show and tell day. As my friends clutched their favourite Barbie dolls and Tonka trucks, I held a business card in my hand, adorned with the colourful Channel 9 logo. Dad had just been hired as a reporter at CFTO-CTV in Toronto, transitioning from radio to what would become a 21-year career in television […]
Son of ex-U.S. ambassador returns to old Ottawa home after nearly 30 years
It was a return two decades in the making. John Niles, son of former U.S. ambassador to Canada Thomas Niles, visited the U.S. ambassador’s home in Ottawa last week for the first time since his family lived there in the late 1980s. Mr. Niles, alongside his wife and children, toured the grounds of the sprawling estate, known […]
Do Canadian authorities have enough counter terrorism tools?
OTTAWA—Last week in the small southwestern Ontario town of Strathroy a young man known to police for having terrorist connections was killed by security forces after he appeared to have exploded a device and had another in his possession. The victim, Aaron Driver, had been arrested in June 2015 after expressing support for Islamic State […]
Trudeau will be second prime minister to have office in West Block, big move in 2018
When Centre Block is emptied in the summer of 2018 for renovations and all its occupants move into the West Block, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will get some office space in the building’s Mackenzie Tower, marking only the second time in history a prime minister has had an office in that building, The Hill Times has learned. The […]
Feds want your input on old U.S. Embassy building, 18 years later
Better late than never, they say. After sitting vacant since 1998, the new federal Liberal government is getting around to finding a use for the old U.S. Embassy at 100 Wellington St. in Ottawa, directly across the street from the Parliament Buildings. The Beaux-Arts building, built in 1932, is a three-storey Indiana limestone with hardwood […]
Transform old U.S. Embassy into Canada’s national portrait gallery
The last time the old U.S. Embassy building was open, Bill Clinton was U.S. president and Jean Chrétien was Canada’s prime minister. That was a long time ago. The three-storey Beaux Arts-style gem of a building designed by the late and great American architect Cass Gilbert in 1932, is located directly across from the Parliament Buildings at […]
Newly renovated, swanky Wellington Building to be ready for MPs, committees this fall
Officials from Public Services and Procurement Canada led the media on a tour of the nearly finished renovation of the Wellington Building, at 180 Wellington St., in Ottawa on July 6. The project, which took six years to complete, has come in on budget at $425.2-million and work has been underway since April 2010, Public […]
NCC approves final renovation plans to transform old Government Conference Centre into new interim Senate Chamber, expected to cost $269-million
PARLIAMENT HILL—The National Capital Commission recently approved the final design plans for the multi-million-dollar Government Conference Centre rehabilitation, with new details revealed, including plans to revamp its eastern façade, where the old train station previously abutted a pre-existing building. “This is a great gift, as we approach 2017, to really ensure that that building has […]
