Brief To The National Capital Commission
Board of Directors

Heritage Ottawa President Carolyn Quinn

Heritage Ottawa welcomes the opportunity to meet with the National Capital Commission (NCC) Board of Directors and share ideas on crucial proposed changes as related to the NCC mandate for the National Capital Region.

Ideas we would like to share with the Board of Directors to assist the NCC in achieving its mandate can be summarized as follows:

1. Communicating the Capital to Canadians: It is the actual nature and history of Canada's Capital that needs to be interpreted to Canadians. Unlike other capital cities in the world that were rebuilt after revolutions and planned grandiosely in the Neo-Classical style with 'Grandes Allées' processional avenues, Canada's nationhood evolved peacefully. The choice of the Gothic Revival architectural style for the city expressed our feeling for the picturesque. No boasting, but a breath-taking site along the bluffs of the river with the town clustered at its feet in keeping with its mediaeval Gothic cathedral origins. These design choices reflect the way Canada came into being. The NCC's mandate is to communicate the Capital as history has made it, not as Paris or Washington would have planned it.

2. Safeguarding and preserving national symbols and treasures: What needs to be included on the NCC's list of national symbols and treasures are the historic streets at the foot of Parliament Hill and the remnants of an industrial heritage that had ramifications nationally and internationally. Efforts to safeguard our treasures should avoid the reinvention of those treasures.

3. Creating a meeting place for all Canadians: There is an over-riding concept that should guide all NCC plans … a respect for the citizenry of the National Capital Region. When creating a meeting place for all Canadians, the living spaces of the city's residents should not be destroyed. Not only is it unfair to the people of this City, it results in a misrepresentation of the country's history. Don't destroy the shrine to make way for the pilgrims.

Heritage Ottawa looks forward to the opportunity of elaborating on these ideas using specific examples related to urban planning concepts for Ottawa.

Thank you on behalf of Heritage Ottawa.

Sincerely,

Carolyn Quinn
President, Heritage Ottawa