We're back. Well, not completely home yet, but in Sydney, and the dreaded jetlag has struck. Our flight from Ottawa to Vancouver was on time, but the flight from Vancouver to Sydney was delayed. Lots of tired and grumpy Australians waiting at the gate, past midnight, including us. Fifteen hours after takeoff we were back in Sydney, and it didn't take long to get out of the airport and into the first direct sunshine for about 31 hours. Ottawa is a bloody long way away.
I quite liked Ottawa. Posts probably didn't sound all that enthusiastic but I think this was because I was getting a bit tired, as well as being conscious of the looming flight home.
But here's a story.
The other day, I moaned about how I couldn't get a copy of the Canadian Constitution from the bookshop in the Houses of Parliament (there are many, many, MANY things that differentiate Canadians from Americans, in my observation, and knowledge about their founding documents is one of them - you face societal ostracision in the US if you can't quote chapter and verse, but in Canada, nobody seems to know much about them). I followed this up with inquiries at a few large bookshops in the centre of Ottawa, as well as the bookshop at the Museum of Civilisation, which had an exhibition/display on Constitutional development, but no copies of same document available for purchase. I comforted myself with the thought that my enquiries might prompt these institutions to stock some copies for future customers - even though it wouldn't do anything for me.
Anyway, so we're at the departure gate in Ottawa, waiting to leave, and I'm wearing my Icelandic 'brennivin' t-shirt as I always do when flying. This guy sitting opposite me asks about it, because his wife is Finnish. I engage in conversation, and he instantly thinks I'm British (my accent isn't Australian enough? -struth!) but I correct him, and we get onto talking about Australia which is where he guest lectures sometimes. We get on to talking, and soon enough we're talking 'what we did in Ottawa' and I mentioned the tour of Parliament and how I couldn't get a copy of the Constitution from the bookshop. Expecting him to stare blankly at me, or wonder what planet I was from, he said "give me your email address and I'll post you a copy - I'm a Senator".
How weird. I mean, how *unbelievably* weird. He really is a Senator - Vern White, from Ontario. Good thing I said nothing about politics as he's from the 'wrong' side of the spectrum, but a very nice man with a highly distinguished record of public service. And as he was rattling off all these career achievements (including outgoing chief of Ottawa Police - but not in a boastful way, mind you) I felt myself lapsing into the Australian 'tall poppy' reaction and started thinking to myself 'this guy can't possibly have done all those things', but it turns out he has.
It's a shame *that* flight couldn't have been delayed, because soon enough the flight was called, but I'd have loved to chat a bit longer about similarities and differences between our two systems.
Anyway, I've sent him my address, so hopefully a copy will soon arrive in the post.
One of the great things about a trip of this kind is the random conversations with strangers. Our aussie accents attract attention. I didn't score any senators, however. You did well there. My experience of Ottawa was very positive, although I didn't see much of it. The locals were so patient and helpful. My biggest surprise about Canada , or rather, its history, is that they actually fought a war against an American force in 1812. I believe that victory is what's behind Canada day, which was celebrated when I was in Hamilton. I admit, I didn't give any thought to a constitution but I would like to see it too. That would give me one up on my Canadian friends.
ReplyDeleteI think Canada Day (1 July) is because that's the day the British North America Act (which created the confederation of the two Canadas, plus 2 of the 3 Maritime provinces) came into effect. The War of 1812 is interesting because we were there on the 200th anniversary of that conflict, so there was plenty of hype about it, but the story seems to be that the Americans more or less gave up rather than being defeated outright.
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