"My Capital!" a Ottawa Travel Page by Bytowner

Dublin, Paris, Edinburgh, Vancouver, Amsterdam, Munich... I've seen them all and more, but wherever I am, part of me is always thinking of home. Aching for a pint of Beau's. Wondering how my Senators are doing. Missing the familiar Changing of the Guard tunes wafting up from Elgin Street in the summer. Imagining that garlicky goodness of a schwarma or the sugary sweetness of a Beavertail. Home is where the heart is, and that's certainly the case for me.

There's a running joke in Ottawa. Once in a while, Jeopardy (an American quiz gameshow) will have a question (er, answer) "This city is the capital of Canada" and, invariably, the answer from one of the braniac contestants will be "Toronto" and you can practically hear the collective groan coming from everyone in the city. Yes, Ottawa is the capital of this crazy country we call Canada.

Once upon a time Ottawa was a very different place. On the west bank of the Ottawa River, Ottawa is at the heart of the "United Canada", made up of Upper Canada (now Ontario) and Lower Canada (now Quebec). The area was originally settled by French Canadians on the East bank of the river (now Hull, or Gatineau) but Irish and Scots soon began arriving in droves to work on the Rideau Canal project in the early 19th Century. These "Navvies" (somewhat derogatory term for an Irish canal worker) gave early Bytown (named after Cl. John By of the Royal Engineers, who oversaw the canal project) a rough reputation. Lowertown, the historic heart of the city (East of Elgin today) was a cesspool, think Gangs of New York, with gangs from the various nationalities running the shanty town and continuing to fight over the ancient disputes brought from their homelands. After the Canal was completed in 1832 Ottawa became a lumber town, "roughriders" pushing logs down the Ottawa River for milling.

In 1857 Queen Victoria changed Ottawa forever. The popular myth is that she simply picked a random spot of the map between York and Montreal and declared that the capital. The reality is that it was chosen for its location right on the border between Upper and Lower Canada and had no prior political scene (unlike the somewhat unstable cities of York and Montreal). Furthermore, it was better from a defensive standpoint if the dastardly Americans every invaded.

And so Ottawa changed drastically from a rough town of unruly Irish deep in the Canadian forest to the capital of an uncertain union that would, ten years later, become the country of Canada.

To be honest, Ottawa doesn't have a fantasitc reputation. Like many other national capitals, Ottawa is the town every Canadian loves to hate. When national newspaper headlines scream "Ottawa Raises Taxes!" or "Ottawa Scandal" you can start to develop a bit of a complex.

Ottawa also has a bit of an officious reputation. Civil servants aren't thought of as the most exciting people in the world, and there are certainly alot of federal government employees around. So a passer through might get the impression that Ottawa is a sleepy old town where the sidewalks get rolled up at 6.

It's true, Ottawa isn't as spontaneous as her older sister Montreal, or as fast-paced as her big brother Toronto. Yet, I'm sure any visitor will find something to love in the proud Edwardian buildings, the wide parade-route roads, the local fiddleheads and strawberries in the Byward Market, the capital-worthy national museums, the pomp and pagentry of the old Dominion or the bike trails that follow the Rideau Canal with it's own awesome, yet sad, history. Beneath the suits Ottawa has a strong community built by the wide range of people that have made this former logging town their home. Spend some time and hopefully you'll learn to love it as much as I do.