Please see our new update to this article about the “Freedom Convoy” protests.
Tag: Ottawa
Senator Mike Duffy On Trial Facing 31 Charges
A Canadian senator is involved in a lengthy and significant criminal trial.
Canada Marks Remembrance Day
The hostilities of World War I officially ended at 11:00 on November 11, 1918.
In others words, at 11:00 on the 11th day of the 11th month.
That is why in Canada and many other countries, Remembrance Day is celebrated on November 11 each year, with a moment of silence at 11:00.
Canada Bands Together In Grief, In Strength
Note: This article contains information that may not be suitable for very young children.
The main entrance to Canada’s government–Parliament–is housed in a clock tower known as the Peace Tower.
It was built as a monument to the people who gave their lives for Canada during the second World War.
The Netherlands Gets Its First King In 123 Years
On Tuesday, the people of the Netherlands got a new king.
That’s because their queen, Queen Beatrix, abdicated the throne.
Abdicated means she stepped down—stopped being queen—to let her son take over the throne and become king.
Her eldest son is Willem-Alexander; he was Crown Prince and now is King.
Canada and the Netherlands have a connection.
During World War II, Beatrix’s family lived in Ottawa, Ont., Canada’s capital city, for five years.
Beatrix’s younger sister, Margriet, was born in Ottawa Civic Hospital in 1943.
At that time, a “federal proclamation” was made to declare the maternity (birthing) ward of the hospital “extraterritorial.” In other words, the room in which Margriet was born was declared neutral ground. That’s so the new royal baby would obtain Dutch citizenship through her parents, rather than Dutch plus Canadian (dual) citizenship because she was born in Canada.
The Dutch royal family thanked Canada for allowing them to live in Ottawa during the war by giving Canada 100,000 tulip bulbs. They continue to send the bulbs each year to Canada. The tulip bulbs form the basis for Ottawa’s stunning annual tulip festival.
First Nations Teens Walk 1,500 Km To Raise Awareness
Six young people and a guide walked 1,500 kilometres to bring awareness to the issues of First Nations people in North America. The walk was inspired by the Idle No More movement.
They called their walk, “The Journey of Nishiyuu.” In Cree, “nishiyuu” means “the people.”
The group left the Cree community of Whapmagoostui in Quebec on January 16. Along their walk, more than 300 people joined them; thousands more gathered with them at the end of their journey, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 25.
Along the way the group stopped at aboriginal communities. They also visited Victoria Island where Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence recently held a hunger strike to protest the Canadian government’s First Nations policies.
Canadian Senators’ Expenses Being Reviewed
Senators are people who are chosen to help make the laws in Canada.
But right now, some of the senators are getting attention because of money they are spending on travel, and on apartments or houses to live in while they sit in the Senate in Ottawa, Ont., Canada’s capital city.
Senators can get as much as $22,000 each year from Canadians or their living expenses, as long as their main residence is at least 100 kilometres away from Ottawa.
But people say that some of the senators are claiming money to pay for their homes even though they are not living in them when they claim to be.
In other cases, people say the homes that are being paid for by Canadians are the main place of residence, or where the senators live most of the time — not just when they have to help make laws in the Senate.
If that is the case, these people say, the senators should be paying the cost themselves.
The senators who are being questioned about whether Canadians should be paying their housing and travel expenses include former TV news personalities Pamela Wallin and Mike Duffy.
If You Lose Your Cell Phone The Finder Will Probably Snoop Through It
Some people at a software company wanted to find out what happens when people find a cell phone.
Do they keep it, or return it? What do they do with it?
They found out that half of the people people who find a cell phone returned it. However, in nearly every case, the “finder” first looked through the information on the phone, checking out the owner’s photos, emails and apps.
In his experiment, Scott Wright, who works for Security Perspectives Inc., left 50 cell phones in various places in five cities in Canada and the United States. He left them out so they would look like they had been accidentally lost.
Youngest-Ever Canadian MP Elected To Parliament
Nineteen-year-old Pierre-Luc Dusseault has a summer job. But he won’t be working at McDonald’s or as a lifeguard, like many kids his age. Instead, he’ll be in Canada’s House of Commons in Ottawa, earning more than $100,000 a year.
The first-year university student ran as the local Member of Parliament for his area (or riding) of Sherbrooke, Que., during the recent federal election–and he won.
He now has a seat in the House of Commons, along with 307 other MPs. However, Dusseault stands out because he is officially the youngest Canadian MP ever, at the age of 19 years (and 11 months).
Dusseault is a member of the NDP (New Democrat Party) and was the co-founder and president of the NDP association at his university. It comes as no surprise to his parents that he landed his amazing new job, since he was always interested in politics and was studying political science in university.
The NHL Season in Review – Column
With only a few games left to play in the National Hockey League season, it’s a good time to look at how well or in some cases, poorly the Canadian teams performed.
Canada has a total of six hockey teams. From east to west they are: The Montreal Canadiens, The Ottawa Senators, The Toronto Maple Leafs, The Edmonton Oilers, The Calgary Flames, and The Vancouver Canucks.
The Montreal Canadiens had quite a good season. They won 43 games and earned 93 points. This success guaranteed them a spot in the playoffs and a chance to win the Stanley Cup. All that remains to be seen is who they will play in the first round.
