Ontario Scenery Photo Tour
Ottawa and Canada's Parliament Buildings

Photo:  Parliament of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario

 
© Kaitlyn Guenther, used with permission

Ottawa, Ontario is the capital city of Canada.  Ottawa is home to the Parliament of Canada, the House of Commons, the Senate, the Privy Council, the Supreme Court, the Federal Court and the Bank of Canada.  Ottawa is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada.  It is also the permanent residence of the Governor General of Canada.

The name "Ottawa" is derived from the Algonquin word adawe, meaning "to trade".  Ottawa and the Ottawa Valley was home to the Algonquin people prior to the arrival of Europeans during the fur and subsequent lumber trade eras.

Europeans from Ireland and France settled in Ottawa and it has become a multicultural - bilingual city with a diverse population. 

Parliament Hill information and coloring page

Photo:  Centennial Flame in Ottawa, Ontario

© Leanne Guenther, used with permission 

The Centennial Flame is a symbolic flame that forms the central element of a fountain on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario. 

The Centennial Flame was lit by Lester B. Pearson (the Canadian Prime Minister at the time) on New Year's Day, 1967 to officially inaugurate the Canadian Centennial celebrations.  The Canadian Centennial was a year long celebration held in 1967 when Canada celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation.

The fountain's water runs from beneath the coats of arms for each of the provinces and territories as they existed in 1966, into a moat below.  The wall surrounding the moat lists the year each province and territory joined Confederation.

The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest Canadian court and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. 

The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions are binding upon all lower courts of Canada.

The Supreme Court of Canada is composed of nine judges: the Chief Justice of Canada and eight others.