The Ottawa Odyssey

Well, I've finally returned from the good ol' capital of Canada, which I did, indeed, misjudge from the front seat of our taxi on my first day in. Although parts of it are quite dilapidated and superficially rundown, the downtown core is absolutely beautiful, and the Parliament buildings on Wellington Street are definitely gems of an age of architecture long lost in the folds of history.

While there, I read the newspaper left in front of my hotel room door every morning more than I ever had back here in Powell River. Perhaps it was the central atmosphere of the city and everyone's political awareness and literacy that drove me to keep pace with world affairs, I'm not sure; but newspapers definitely took on a new zeal of fascination and interest for me.

I was also present to witness, in the first person, world history in the making, as I was in the Parliament Building's House of Commons, no more than 20 feet away from Liberal party leader Michael Ignatieff and Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper when Ignatieff announced the Liberal-Bloc-NDP coalition's vote of no confidence in Harper, kick-starting yet another federal election. The personal significance such an experience posed to me still makes me smile with excitement and thankfulness in having seized the opportunity.

I also did much exploring while skipping a day at the TYPS (Town Youth Participation Strategies) Conference I was attending. Although I felt bad for having upset my adult facilitator, I don't regret having ditched, as it was only for about 10 hours, and I wouldn't have seen the no confidence vote in person had I not. We made quick amends once I returned.

While exploring, I checked out the Supreme Court of Canada, the National Archives (both of which I didn't get very far in, as security informed me neither were open to the public, save for the occasional guided tour through the Supreme Court), and the Canadian Museum of War.

The cold of Ottawa is incredibly biting, and made for serious discomfort for any important part of the body that is uncovered to the icy wind. Not understanding the city's transit system very well led to many early stops and many cold walks on the only day I managed to escape.

For the next 3 days, I stuck around at the conference, and met many incredible people, connecting with each of them in some way, shape, or form that I knew was meaningful on both ends. They were people from all walks of life, of every race, creed, ethnicity and religion, and the diversity was fantastic.

I miss each and every one of them, and wish the conference could have been longer... perhaps I will attend next year, and perhaps my potential prodding will cause it to last 10 days.

That'd be incredible.