Several people have commented on the diversity in our ward. We have observed that Quebec has a very diverse culture so we did a little research. According to Statistics Canada, one out of three people in Montréal is an immigrant. It is home to over 120 cultural communities from five continents. More than 50% of Montréal's population is bilingual and over 20% is trilingual. Because of its diversity, the greater area continues to attract immigrants from all over the world.
We made a list of the countries where some of our ward members are from: Canada, United States, United Kingdom, West Indies, Barbados, Granada, Trinidad, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, China, Viet Nam, Russia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Columbia, Peru, Mexico, Italy, Haiti, New Zealand, Pakistan, and France. And these are just the ones we are aware of!
Our sweet friend from Barbados celebrated her birthday on July 24. She likes to joke that all of Utah celebrates her birthday with her. We took her to lunch at a Greek restaurant on Monday.
Heather Ashby
Heather is from Barbados. She and her mother and aunt came to Montréal when Heather was 16 (she just turned 68). Her mother didn't like Montréal or the winter weather and returned to Barbados after two years. Heather stayed with her aunt, finished her schooling and went to work. They have lived together since immigrating from Barbados. Heather has one daughter and two grandsons. Auntie Joyce, who never married, just had her 90th birthday and suffers from dementia. Heather is now her main care giver. Joyce was a nurse and provided a home and support for Heather and her daughter for many years.
Heather has never owned a car or learned to drive. When we pick her up, I usually drive and John sits in the backseat so Heather and I can talk. When we picked her up for the birthday lunch she told me that I was a fearless woman, which made me laugh! When I asked her why she thought that she said because I was a woman living in a foreign country and driving in a big city. Oh that driving in a Canadian city was my biggest fear... if only! But she was sincere and it was a nice compliment.
We had another eight-year-old baptism in the ward this week. Saskia was baptized on Tuesday - it was probably the longest baptism we have attended.
Saskia loves to sing - very loudly - when the Primary presents a song. She is very animated and energetic and you would never guess that she is quite shy. After the talks in the chapel we all went to the font to watch her baptism. She went into the water with her dad, who said the prayer, and we waited. And waited. Turns out she is afraid of the water. They had practiced in a pool but she just wouldn't let dad tip her under the water. We finally all returned to the chapel so she wouldn't be embarrassed with us watching her. It took an hour, literally before the Bishop came into the chapel and announced that she was finally baptized!
The Dupont family
Sondy (dad), Saskia and Grandma Dupont
Sondy and his mother Michelaine immigrated from Haiti. Grandma speaks Haitian Creole French and has picked up the Quebecois French somewhat. She comes to our ward each week but Sondy spends a lot of time translating English for her. He is currently serving on the High Council.
We took a couple days off and went back to Ottawa to see how much had changed since we were there 20+ years ago. We rode the train from Montréal to Ottawa. It is a two-hour trip, which is about the same time as driving would take. The train was comfortable and we didn't have to worry about directions or parking when we arrived.
As you can see, our seats were close to the washroom! We thought it strange that it is still a federal mandate here to wear a mask in the station and on the train at all times. It is no longer required on planes or public transit, so why the train?
Part of the old Montréal depot (taken from the train as we departed)
View of the Champlain Bridge
The scenery between Montréal and Ottawa was acres and acres of corn, potatoes and barley. I saw a lavender field and once in awhile a canola field but mostly corn and potatoes.
We stayed in the cutest B and B called McGee's Inn. The Victorian style house was built in 1886 by John McGee, who was an influential Canadian politician. The property was quite extensive at the time and it now sits on a quiet residential street a few blocks away from the tourist spots.
The Bed and Breakfast is now owned and operated by a private family. The house is full of cherry wood mantels and moldings. There are antiques throughout the house.
There was a large table in the dining room and five smaller tables in the living room, where we ate breakfast each morning. The next three photos are of our room, which was located on the main floor just off the dining room.
The Parkers are a senior couple serving in the National Archives in Ottawa. They picked us up Thursday evening and took us to a Chinese buffet for dinner. It was very good food and we had fun getting better acquainted with the Parkers.
The restaurant was huge and there were too many options to choose from!
Elder Parker is originally from New Zealand; Sister Parker from Samoa. They met at BYU-Hawaii, lived in the Chicago area for many years, then moved to South Carolina to work with one of their sons. They are the only senior couple in Ottawa and they appreciated spending some time with "adults", as they put it.
We learned a lot of history and how the Canadian government functions but I'll start with one of my favorite things. I am fascinated with locks - not padlocks or curly locks but waterway locks. I could sit (and have) for hours watching the water levels rise and fall as the boats make their way through the locks. The Rideau Canal is a 202 kilometer long (125.5 miles) waterway that runs from Kingston Ontario to Ottawa. It freezes into a big, long skating rink in the winter but during the summer it is a waterway for boaters and paddlers. We took an evening cruise on the canal and were told that there are 27 individual locks along the canal.
On Friday we did the Hop-on Hop-off bus around the city to catch all the highlights. We saw 24 Sussex, where the Prime Minister usually lives. The house and grounds apparently need extensive renovations so Trudeau and his family are living in another "cottage" nearby.
24 Sussex, official residence of the PM
The first photo was borrowed from the internet. This is the view we caught from the bus.
Giant spider sculpture outside the National Gallery
It seems that every city has a Notre Dame Cathedral! This one was planned as a parish church in 1839 but was transformed as it achieved the status of cathedral for the new Catholic Diocese of Bytown (now Ottawa) in 1847.
View across the Ottawa River of Gatineau Quebec
The Fairmont Château Laurier Hotel
This fancy hotel was built by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway between 1908 and 1912. Average room rate just under $400 but you can pay much, much more per night.
Beavertails everywhere you look!
Beautiful flowers everywhere; this pub is in Bywater Market
Canada Revenue HQ (like the U.S. IRS)
Stairs leading down to the Bywater Market. Bywater is a huge marketplace filled with restaurants and shops. And lots of tourists.
A popular spot for pictures
The name Canada comes from the Huron-Iroquois word kanata, which means village or settlement. There is a town called Kanata just outside Ottawa. Most people assume that hockey is Canada's national sport but it is lacrosse. Just a little trivia I learned on this trip!
Center Block on Parliament Hill
Ottawa is the capital of Canada. There are three large buildings on the hill, plus several office buildings located near by, where the nation's business is conducted. Prior to construction, the Senate and House of Commons were located in the Center Block. Offices for members of Parliament were located in the Center Block, East Block and West Block.
East Block
West Block
The East Block is functioning as it did before construction. The West Block still contains the offices and was renovated to add chambers and committee rooms for the House of Commons.
The House of Commons Chamber is always green. You can see the former outer walls of the building - they enclosed the courtyard to create the temporary chambers. Members of the House of Commons are elected.
The old railway station was renovated to accommodate the Senate Chamber. The building was about to be demolished when someone came up with the idea of using it for the Senate.
It is a beautiful old building and they tried to keep as much of the original architecture and design as they could.
The Senate Chamber is decorated in red. Members of the Senate are appointed by the Prime Minister through a lengthy process but the PM make the ultimate decision. The three chairs in the front are called the Senate Thrones. The center one is for the Speaker of the Senate; the two behind are the monarch's throne and the consort's throne.
A quick history lesson on Parliament Hill:
- 1827 The site was a military outpost that served as the headquarters of the British Royal Engineers and Army during construction of the Rideau Canal.
- 1857 Queen Victoria selects Ottawa as the permanent capital of the Province of Canada, which is made up of present day Ontario and Quebec.
- 1859 Construction on the Parliament buildings begins.
- 1867 With the Confederation, the Parliament buildings in Ottawa become the seat of government for the new Dominion of Canada (present day Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia).
- 1916 Fire destroys the Center Block.
- 1920 Reopening of the rebuilt Center Block.
- 1927 Unveiling of the Peace Tower symbolizes the peace Canadians fought for in WWI.
- 1966 Lighting of the Centennial Flame (more on that in a minute).
- 2011 Renovation begins on West Block to build an interim House of Commons Chamber, where members of Parliament will sit during Center Block renovations.
- 2014 Renovation of historic railway station begins; it is transformed into the Senate of Canada building for the duration of the rehabilitation.
- 2019 Senate and House of Commons relocate to new chambers. Renovation begins on Center Block. Anticipated completion 2031.
The Centennial Flame sits in front of Center Block. It was first lit in 1966 by PM Lester B Pearson in anticipation of the 100th year anniversary of Canada. It was rededicated in 2017 by PM Justin Trudeau to celebrate the 150th anniversary. The shields of all the provinces and territories encircle the flame. Flowers of each province and territory, and the dates they joined the Confederation are carved around the flame.
Before construction they used to do a changing of the guard on the center lawn every day at 10:00 am. It was very impressive with the smart red uniforms and the tall furry hats (I always called them bear hats, no idea what the official name is). Changing of the guard has been moved across the street to the war memorial.
Changing of the guard takes place every hour on the hour now. It's not nearly as impressive but it was interesting to watch. The series of video clips captures the procedure.
If you endured all that and made it to the end, I'm impressed! We returned home Saturday evening and are back to work.
We are so grateful for the beautiful world we have been blessed with; for good health and the means to travel a bit and to visit different parts of the world. Traveling not only broadens our horizons but increases our understanding and tolerance of other cultures and people. We are all children of a Heavenly Father who loves each one of us, no matter where we reside.
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