OTTAWA--THE CAPITAL OF THE DOMINION
I have come to Ottawa to get a “close-up” of the government of Canada,
and to see for myself if the city deserves its name, the “Washington
of the North.” Ottawa gives one an impression of vigour, youth, and
energy. It seems up to the minute, and not hanging on the coat-tails of
the past like Quebec. It has some of the English flavour of Halifax,
but is more modern. Like Washington, it is built on plans that, as they
are developed, will emphasize its natural beauties.
Ottawa is becoming a centre of intellectual life as well as of
political activity. The city is attracting people of wealth and
leisure who find it a pleasant place of residence for all or a part
of the year. The government service includes men and women of unusual
attainments, who are less likely to lose their places on account of
politics than those holding similar offices in the United States.
Ottawa is also becoming the headquarters for scientific and other
organizations, and is developing rapidly as an educational centre.
Washington has the Potomac, but this capital is on the banks of two
rivers, the Ottawa and the Rideau. Its site was chosen only after a
bitter struggle between rival cities. Quebec, Montreal, Kingston, and
Toronto each wanted the honour, but in 1859 all gracefully accepted
the arbitration of Queen Victoria, who chose Ottawa. It was then a
town of less than ten thousand people. It now has more than one hundred
thousand. It lies in the province of Ontario, but is separated from
Quebec only by the Ottawa River.
In contrast with our national capital, Ottawa is an important city
in its own right aside from the presence of the Dominion government.
It is one of the chief lumber centres of all Canada, and besides saw
mills and paper mills, has a match factory that is among the largest in
the world. These industries are run by water-power. Ottawa is at the
head of navigation of the Ottawa River, which here is broken by the
Chaudière Falls. When Champlain saw these falls the tumbling waters
presented a beautiful spectacle. Now they are reduced and obscured
by mills and power stations. There is about two million horse-power
available within fifty miles, one twentieth of which is developed.
Many of the industries based on the water-powers and the lumber of
the Ottawa district are in Hull, across the river. Hull has about
thirty thousand people, nearly all French Canadians. Its population
is temporarily increased each evening, as streams of Ottawans cross
the bridges from the bone dry province of Ontario to the beer and wine
cafés of the adjoining territory.
To appreciate all the beauties of the capital one must ride over its
thirty miles of boulevards and park drives. The Rideau Canal flows
through the heart of the city, giving a picturesque appearance to its
business districts, and lending a delightful aspect to the streets
and homes in the residential sections. There are block after block of
attractive houses that have the canal at their front doors, and others
with the canal in the rear. I noticed more than one canoe moored, so
to speak, in a backyard.
Indeed, the city seems entirely surrounded by water and parks. Besides
the Rideau Canal, there is the river of the same name, with well-kept
parks along its banks. The most commanding sites on the hillsides
overlooking the rivers are occupied by fine public buildings and
millionaires’ residences. There are numerous yacht and canoe clubs,
while on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River, above the Chaudière
Falls, are several golf courses. In their clubs the Canadians seem to
be content to do things on a less elaborate scale than is common in the
States, thus making it possible for men and women of moderate means to
belong without feeling extravagant. In fact, though none know better
than the Canadians how to entertain elaborately whenever they choose to
do so, they live more simply than we, and spend more time in outdoor
recreations.
Imagine yourself at my side as I write these words, and look with me
out of my hotel window. We are in the Château Laurier, a modern hotel
built of light-coloured stone in the design of a French chateau. It
was erected by the Grand Trunk Railroad, but now, like the railroad,
is operated by the government. It faces Connaught Square, opposite the
Union Station, with which it is connected by an underground passage.
If we were to fall from our window, we should land on the bank of the
Rideau Canal as it comes out from under Connaught Square. The canal
divides Ottawa into two parts. East of the canal is Lower Town, where
most of the French residents live. To the east also is Sandy Hill, a
fine residential quarter. Just below us the canal descends through
a ravine down to the level of the Ottawa River. Here there are six
locks forming a water stairway. The canal connects the Ottawa River
with Kingston, on Lake Ontario. It was constructed chiefly for military
purposes. After the War of 1812, the Canadians felt that they needed
an inland waterway between Montreal and the Lakes that would not be
exposed to attack from the American side. For many years Ottawa bore
the name of Bytown, after a military engineer, Colonel By, who built
the canal.
Now look across the ravine through which the canal drops down to the
river. There are the government buildings, arranged in a quadrangle.
They are massive structures of rough stone and Gothic architecture
that crown the bluff one hundred and sixty feet above the water. They
look more like one of our universities than any of our capitols. The
Parliament building, with its back to the river, forms one side of the
quadrangle. In front of it are several acres of lawn that slope gently
down to Wellington Street. Facing the Parliament building are other
government offices, business buildings, and the white marble home of
the Rideau Club, where politicians from all Canada gather during the
legislative sessions.
The government has bought several city blocks near the Parliament
quadrangle, on which it will some day erect appropriate structures
to house its various departments. Some of them, meanwhile, are
accommodated in all sorts of office buildings and remodelled dwellings,
a condition that also reminds me of Washington. This fact shows,
too, that in the face of the continual cry for greater economy the
government machine in Canada is, like our own, getting bigger every
year.
The present Parliament house is a new building that will have cost,
when complete, nearly twelve million dollars. It is on the site and
about the size of the one burned in 1916, except that it has one story
more, and its square Gothic tower will be within two feet as high
as the dome of the United States Capitol. The entrance hall, which
forms the base of this tower, is a veritable forest of pillars that
uphold Gothic arches. The arches and walls have a dappled gray-white
appearance, due to fossils in the Selkirk limestone. Arched corridors
lead to the Senate wing on the right, to the House of Commons on
the left, and straight ahead into the library, the only part of the
original building not destroyed by the fire.
I found the Senate chamber a beautiful room, handsomely appointed.
Its walls are lined with large paintings of Canadian troops in action
in the World War. The ninety-six senators who represent the various
provinces are appointed for life by the government in power whenever
vacancies occur. Seats in this body are often handed out as political
plums. The Canadian Senate has not nearly as much power in national
affairs as the upper house of our Congress, but a seat in it means both
honour and a living.
The House of Commons, the real arena of Canadian political life, is a
long, high-ceilinged room, with a broad aisle extending from the door
to the speaker’s dais. On each side of the aisle are rows of double
desks behind which sit the two hundred and thirty-five members. Those
belonging to the majority party are on the speaker’s right, and those
of the opposition on his left. The speaker’s big chair is patterned
after the one in the English House of Commons. I sat in it and found it
very uncomfortable. Above it is the coat of arms of Canada, carved in
wood from Westminster six hundred years old. All around the chamber are
galleries for visitors.
The members of the Canadian Congress are not as generously provided
for as ours. They get salaries of four thousand dollars a year, with
nothing extra for secretaries. Instead of cash mileage allowances they
receive railroad passes. The Parliament must meet every year, and the
sessions usually last from early in January until May or June. Because
of the tendency of members to go home before the adjournment, the House
passed a law imposing fines of twenty-five dollars a day for absences
during the final two weeks. Our Congress might do well to enact a
similar law.
Yesterday morning I drove out to Rideau Hall, a big gray stone mansion
in park-like grounds overlooking the Rideau and Ottawa rivers. It is
the residence of the Governor-General of Canada, the representative of
His Majesty, the King of Great Britain, and the nominal head of the
Canadian government. The Canadians pay him a princely salary, furnish
him this palatial country residence, and make him a generous allowance
for entertainment and travel. They sincerely desire that he enjoy his
five years among them, provided that he does not interfere in the
conduct of their affairs.
“Just consider,” said a Canadian statesman to me to-day, “that the
position of the Governor-General in Canada is identical with that of
the King in Great Britain. He is a symbol of the unity and continuity
of the empire, but his executive duties are purely formal, as he
must not take the initiative and must always get the advice of his
ministers. Control of the government may shift from one party to
another here as in England, but the Governor-General, like the King,
continues undisturbed in his office. When his term expires the King
names his successor, but no government in London dreams of making the
appointment until it has consulted with Ottawa and ascertained that the
man chosen is acceptable to us.”
The speaker was a man who has frequently held high offices in the
government. Like other Canadians I have met, he believes his country
has a more democratic form of government than that of the United States.
“You know,” said he, “we in Canada marvel at the strange spectacle you
sometimes have in Washington of a president of one party confronted by
a majority in Congress of another party. To us, responsible popular
government under such conditions is unthinkable. The majority in the
House of Commons always forms our government, or administration, as
you call it, and the majority leader becomes premier and head of the
cabinet. As long as it is supported by a majority of that house, the
cabinet is the supreme power of the land in federal affairs. As soon as
it ceases to be supported by the majority, it loses the right to govern
and a new ministry comes in. Under our system an election must be held
every five years, but it may be held oftener. For example, a prime
minister who has met defeat in the Commons may advise a dissolution of
Parliament and appeal at once to the people in a general election. You
Americans vote by the calendar, every two or four years; we vote on
specific issues as the need arises. Every one of our cabinet ministers
is an elected member of the House of Commons or a member of the Senate,
and must answer for all his official acts on the floor of the House.”
I asked as to the present attitude toward the United States.
“It seems to me,” was the reply, “the relations between Canada and
the United States were never better than they are to-day. The ancient
grudges on our side of the border, and the loose talk of annexation or
absorption on yours, are now happily things of the past. While we have
an area greater than yours, and vast wealth in natural resources, the
fact that our population is only one twelfth of yours means that you
will for years to come exercise a strong influence upon Canada.
“When you consider that the two countries have a joint border more than
three thousand miles long, on which there is no armed force whatsoever;
that they have created one joint commission that settles all boundary
disputes and another that disposes of questions concerning waters
common to both countries; that we are your second best customer and
that you are a large investor in our enterprises; that many of our
wage-workers have gone to you and many of your farmers have come to
us--taking all these things into consideration, one may say that the
two peoples have managed to get along with one another in pretty good
fashion.
“By closing your markets to us, through high tariffs, you sometimes
make things a bit difficult for some of our people. On the other hand,
we have erected some tariff barriers of our own. Our fisheries, fruit
industries, and manufactures now demand protection, just as your
farmers and others insist on having tariffs against some Canadian
products. Our people are divided by sectional interests, just as yours
are, and both governments have difficulty, at times, in reconciling
conflicting desires. But I think Washington and Ottawa will always
understand one another, and will work out successfully their mutual
problems of the future.”
[Illustration: Canada’s half million acres of timber contain fifty per
cent. of the forest resources of the entire British Empire. The revenue
from lumber and wood pulp ranks next in value to that from agricultural
products.]
[Illustration: It takes a woodpile as big as a large apartment house to
carry one of Ottawa’s pulp mills through the winter. These logs will
make enough news print to paper two roads reaching around the world.]
[Illustration: With the United States as a “horrible example”, Canada
is trying to safeguard her forest from destruction by fire or wasteful
cutting. Airplanes are frequently used by some of the provincial forest
patrols.]
Few Americans realize how independent Canada is. She pays not a
dollar in taxes to the British, nor does she receive any funds from
the Imperial Treasury. The relations between the Dominion and the
Empire are not fixed by law, but, like the British constitution, are
unwritten and constantly changing. Canada maintains a High Commissioner
in London, concedes certain tariff preferences to Great Britain and the
other dominions, and her premier takes part in the imperial conferences
in London. In all other respects she goes along in her own way and
does exactly as she pleases. She played a great part in the World War,
and would undoubtedly fight again, but only of her own free will. The
people regard the Dominion as a member of a “Commonwealth of Nations”
united under the British flag, and care little for talk of empire. They
have even passed a law putting an end to the system whereby the Crown
conferred titles on distinguished Canadians.