Cheap Canucks – Cheapness By Canadian Standards

One of the interesting features of Ottawa is its architecture and Ottawa has many heritage sites. Parliament Hill with its historical neo-Gothic buildings was an area I wanted to discover in more detail.

Friday night, just after we arrived in town I was able to snap a few pictures, just before the sun went down. Saturday morning I got up and out by 7:30 am and it was a crisp morning, with perfect blue sky. It was definitely on the cold side, not a good idea to venture out without a hat or a thick scarf. So it was going to be a bad hair day again, but who cares….

I started off with the area immediately in front of the Lord Elgin Hotel, which includes the National Arts Center, the Government Conference Centre (the former Union Station, Ottawa’s main railway terminal), the War Memorial and the Chateau Laurier.

Then I marched up to Parliament Hill from where you have an absolutely perfect view over to Hull and the Gatineau Hills. I admired the sculptures ” Women are Persons” (referring to women being recognized as their own human beings), and took a number of pictures and video clips of the Parliament Buildings.

Parliament Hill is the seat of Canada’s Government and consists of the Centre Block, the West Block and the East Block. The Senate and the House of Commons are also located here. Free tours are generally available every day, except my own discovery was a little bit too early to take the tour.

Incidentally Canada’s Parliament Buildings have an interesting history. Lower Canada (today’s Quebec) and Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) joined together to form the Province of Canada in 1841. The seat of government alternated for many years until Queen Victoria was asked to select a permanent capital in 1857.

To the surprise of many, the Queen selected the rough lumber town of Ottawa instead of the established cities of Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City or Kingston. One of the reasons was that Ottawa was close to both provinces and located at a safe distance from the American border.

The Parliament Buildings were built between 1859 and 1866 (not including the Library and the Tower). One year after they were finished, Confederation occurred and the buildings were immediately selected to house the government for the newly created Dominion of Canada.

The main building of the government buildings is called Centre Block and it is instantly recognizable with its trademark Peace Tower. Visitors can watch the House of Commons and the Senate from the visitor galleries, and free tours are also available. A tour to the top of the Peace Tower rewards you with a great view all over Ottawa. Canada’s war dead are honoured inside the Memorial Chamber.

The Library of Parliament Building – the only part of the original Centre Block that survived the desastrous fire of 1916 – is currently undergoing restoration work to bring it back to its former glory.

The historic East Block has not changed much since the days of Confederation. The offices of Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, have been restored and are available to visit on a public tour.

The West Block is not accessible to the public as it houses the offices of the members of parliament.

The Peace Tower is Ottawa’s trademark and its name is a commemoration of Canada’s commitment to peace. The Memorial Chamber is located on the third floor of the Tower, and it honours Canadians who have died in armed conflicts since Confederation. The Peace Tower also holds an observation area and the Carillon which contains 53 bells weighing anywhere from less than 5 kg to more than 10 tons.

The Centre Block was affected by a large fire in 1916. Canada began rebuilding it while still fighting in the First World War. The new structure, designed in the Modern Gothic Revival style by John Pearson and Jean Omer Marchand, was completed by 1922. The Peace Tower was finished later in 1927.

In the summer Parliament Hill offers up a unique ceremony: every day at 10 am the Changing of the Guard takes place, and this year the ceremony will be held every day from June 24 to August 26 of 2006.

Parliament Hill with its big open square lends itself naturally as a meeting and entertainment venue. The Canada Day celebrations are held here and they include free concerts, spectacular fireworks, a flight demonstration by the Snowbirds (Canada’s precision aerobatic team), and you’ll only have to put up with short speeches by Canadian politicians.

Another event coming up for 2006 is a free sound and light show called “Canada: the Spirit of a Country”, which will be performed on a daily basis after dark between July 5 and September 10, 2006. Images will be projected onto the Parliament Buildings. Obviously Parliament Hill is not just a boring place for politicians, it is an entertainment venue and meeting place for people from Ottawa, for folks from the rest of the country and for international tourists alike.

After my discovery of the Parliament Buildings I walked further west to have a look at the Supreme Court of Canada and the other surrounding buildings. What really fascinated me where the huge plumes of steam that come out of the smokestacks, I don’t recall seeing the same types of formations in Toronto. One person explained to me that the air in Ottawa is calmer as compared to Toronto where we always have wind blowing in from the lake which actually would disperse these clouds of smoke. An interesting sight….

This crisp morning walk was the perfect introduction to Ottawa and a good way to burn off calories from last night’s carlory-rich evening at Fat Tuesday’s. After a rather hearty breakfast at the Lord Elgin Hotel, we set off to begin our day of skating on the Rideau Canal Skateway, the main reason we had come to Ottawa.

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.

Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.

“Life is a Journey Explore New Horizons”. The story with photos is published at Travel Stories and Photos (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/ottawa_parliament_hill.htm)

OPEN IF YOU’RE A GOOD THESIS WRITER! (urgent! easy 10 pts.)?

For my History exam tomorrow we have to write an essay on it.
He gave us the question so we could prepare an outline to study.
I’m finished my outline but I can’t make a good thesis, and my teacher is REALLY picky with theses.

Here’s the question:
Why were Quebeckers dissatisfied with their place in Canada during the 20th Century?

My 3 answers (that need to be in the thesis) are:
1. Because of the language differences. All of Canada was English speaking, except for Quebec who spoke French.
2. Because of the amount of power English Canada had. It was almost as if the English speakers were ‘ruling’ Canada.
3. The lack of recognition of the French Canadians and their different culture and language. Everything in Canada was French only, and Quebec didn’t like that.

THANKS FOR THE HELP ;D.

thats really funny cause in my english class we just finished learning about how to write a thesis…..your thesis can be…… the Quebeckers dissatisfied with their place in canada because of the languauge differences,the amount of power english canada had, and the lack of recongnition.
in you thesis state the key points and then lets say ur second paragraph would be about the specific of the language differences, and then the next paragraph would be about the amount of power the english canada had and so on

New Canadian Citizenship Test

Guaranteed investment Certificates, (GIC) are Canadian investments that provide a guaranteed rate of return over a fixed period of time. GICs are normally provided by banks, credit unions, and trust companies.

The earliest forms of guaranteed fixed-income investments included such investments as bank notes and mutual funds. The first Canadian fund, Canadian Investment Fund Ltd. (CIF), was established in 1932. It changed its name to Spectrum United Canadian Investment Fund in 1996, and this fund changed name at the end of August 2002 to CI Canadian Investment Fund. Investing in guaranteed investment certificates, or GICs, has been the safe and sound choice from the time when registered retirement savings plans became available in 1957. GICs were created to give people a guaranteed return on an investment. Back in the 1970′s, interest rates on investments were higher averaging about 7.7 per cent and as much as 15.8 per cent in 1982. Part of that high interest rate was due to higher price inflation than today.

Interest rates are lower now. Over the past five years, GICs with a five-year term have paid an average of less than 3 per cent a year. Because Guaranteed Investment Certificates are low risk, there is normally a lower rate of return. With a GIC, the financial institution will borrow the person’s money for a specified amount of time which can be six months, one year, two years, or up to 10 years. When the GIC period has ended, your initial investment will be returned plus any accrued interest.

To own a GIC you must deposit at least $500.00. When the period has ended, one can then cash them as taxable income or renew it for another term. If you cash out before the term as ended, you will be required to pay a fee. GICs tend to pay a higher interest rate than bank savings accounts, but less most other investments. Interest rates tend to range from 1-9%.

There are other types of GICs such as Market Growth GICs. Their interest rates depend on the rate of growth in the stock market. This is a bit more risky as the market rates tend to fluctuate. Just like regular GICs, Market Growth GICs are low-risk because your original investment is guaranteed to be returned.

GICs are a popular investment choice due to their safety and security, guaranteed growth. (The interest rate is guaranteed with fixed-rate GICs,) flexible terms, and flexible payments. With some GICs, you can decide how you collect the interest you earn, such as monthly, annually or at maturity.

Guaranteed Investment Certificates make for a sound investment if you want a protected place to save your money. GICs could be used as a part of a fixed income portion of your portfolio, used for retirement supplemental income, or just to hold your money until you come up with a number of long-term financial strategies.

Guaranteed Investment Certificates have had a long history of providing Canadians with low risk financial planning investments for retirement or other investment endeavors. Investment portfolios will benefit from having an investment with a guaranteed rate of return. As well, these investments are often selected during periods of market volatility.

Whether you’re looking for mortgage rates or great GIC rates, with Meridian Credit Union you’ll have a customized financial plan that makes sense for you. Just for you.

Pass the Mic: 8 MCs blow-up the history of Canadian rap

Are either of these cars good choices or am i aiming to high?

After some careful thought ive come up with 4 cars that i think might be good as a first car, all are fairly cheap (cheaper than a brand new stock volks jetta, canadian its 21,000). Some info on whether these cars are good choices or not are very appreciated. The four cars are: Honda S2000, toyota supra (2nd gen),toyota celica and mazda RX-7 (newest generation)
Also all of these would be used not brand new

The Celica would be the best daily car, but it definitely won’t drive as nice as the others.

The other 3 a more like track cars.

If you really want to go for the S2000, that would be okay. It’s reliable and very fun to drive, but it’s not a good daily driver and it will probably be more expensive to own (Paying for fuel, insurance, parts, etc..).

Cheap Canadian Car Insurance