The Untold Stories of Parliament Hill
Over 3 million visitors attend Parliament Hill in Ottawa each year to learn about the #GovernmentApproved history of Canada and political structure. Today I had the opportunity to learn about the “unofficial” history of Canada, on a tour provided by Indigenous and Canadian studies professor Dr. Brian McDougall.
The construction of the Canadian Parliament was a difficult and lengthy process. Many people were injured or even killed because of the lack of safety standards. There were two (illegal at the time) worker strikes. The government was forced to accept their demands due to the lack of skilled workers at the time, and the Parliament was finally constructed.
Dr. McDougall claimed that the sandstone bricks used to construct the East Block of Parliament were quarried from Algonquin burial grounds located in Hull. If this is true, then the infamous Indian Act was formulated within a building literally built from Indigenous bone! Burial grounds did indeed exist in Hull, however I am not aware of evidence that sandstone used to construct Parliament was quarried from this area.
The Parliament buildings have long been used as a site to promote war. The War of 1812 memorial sculpture was commissioned by Harper to instill in Canadians a view of Canada as a strong military nation. During World War One, the Parliament buildings were ravaged by fire. The Canadian government justified conscription by blaming this tragedy on the Germans.
Canada Day celebrations are also political. Dominion Day (later renamed Canada Day) was first celebrated in 1958. Prime Minister John Diefenbaker created the celebration to promote a pro-British agenda. He wanted to rectify Canada’s split from Britain over the Suez Crisis under the previous Liberal government.
The “Women are Persons” statue is the only statue on Parliament Hill related to people winning rights. The judicial decision that “women are persons” was of little importance to the average woman. Women had already won the right to vote. The decision just gave women the right to become senators. Yet this event has been commemorated as a defining moment of women’s rights. The statue insinuates that it is only appropriate to win rights through the judicial system. There are no statues on the Hill to commemorate rights that were won by mass organization and protest.
There are many other famous Canadians who will never be memorialized on Parliament Hill. Parliament has never commemorated Canadian politician and Metis hero Louis Riel, but there is a memorial for the two soldiers that died suppressing his rebellion. Tommy Douglas, the founder of universal healthcare, will never be celebrated on Parliament Hill because the government elite considered him a dangerous Bolshevik.
The tour ended on the steps of Parliament where we learned about the various First Nations, feminist, gay rights, and environmental groups that had organized protests here.
Too much power lies in big businesses and their 9000 lobbyists. Our leaders are more often than not members of the 1%, the wealthy elite. Parliament Hill was designed to promote a vision of Canada that benefits this elite. Dr. McDougall ended his tour with a fitting quote from George Orwell: “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”