Ottawa's Murals (A Tribute to Franco-Ontarians)
Stopping By
As you probably know, Ottawa is Canada's capital city. But what you may ignore, is the fact that before being incorporated under the name Ottawa in 1855, it was founded as Bytown in 1826.
Reminiscent of the area used to be known as Lower Town is the ByWard Market. John By, a Lieutenant Colonel of the Royal Engineers, was sent by the king in 1826 so that he could oversee the buiding of the Rideau canal system. The Rideau Canal is what separated east Lower Town, inhabited by French Canadian and Irish immigrant Catholics, from west Upper Town where lived English and Scottish descendants of Anglican or Protestant faith.
A Tribute to Franco-Ontarians
Today, I want to bring you at the end of a small dark alley, situated somewhere along that beautiful market, I insist you must see if you ever happen to visit Ottawa. Rest assured that I have no malicious intentions in bringing you, the virtual tourist, to that remote area. The reason for guiding you toward that hellhole of a place simply is that all of this post's murals are located at this single spot on 95 George Street.
There is however an hidden secret, that I was unaware of, in that dead-end where people rarely go. It concerns Regulation 17 which was made into law by the Ontario Conservative government in 1912. The goal of the legislation was to shut down French-language schools in the province. Instruction provided in French language was thus not permitted after the first two years of schooling. The regulation was amended later in the same year, but was not repelled until 1927. Finally in 1968, French-language schools were officially recognized by the Ontario government.
The Guigues Elementary School played a major role in Franco-Ontarian's protests against Regulation 17.
I couldn't take frontal pictures of the paintings due to the narrow space I had to dealt with, my back always standing against a wall.
Jeanne Lajoie, a dual-language teacher who teached in French for longer periods than what Regulation 17 allowed, became a symbol of the Franco-Ontarians' resistance to the rule.
Father Charles Charlebois, founded and directed the Le Droit newspaper which was created to fight against Statute XVII.
La Chasse-galerie is a result of the mix between a French tale of a man named Gallery, who was condemn to fly forever because he chose is love for hunting over attending Sunday mass, with a Native American legend of a flying canoe. It is probably the most popular folktale of French Canadian culture.
In 2016, the movie Chasse-Galerie: La Légende putted the Quebec folklore icon onto the big screen.
If you didn't already know, hockey is Canada's most popular sport.
Not sure if this cooperative bank's contribution to the artwork is historic or financial in nature.
What I do know, is that Pierre Hardy is the muralist behind the art. And no, he isn't a saint, that aura-like light near his bearded head is the flash I had to use in order for my camera to see something.
The Lovely Market
I'll leave you with some pretty representations of the ByWard Market, thinking it might convince you of its charms. I came across those in the stairs leading to the Giant Tiger store occupying the interior side of the wall shown in the first couple of images at the top of the page.
Great article and pictures! Good work! 👍
Thank You! :-)
I immigrated first to Ottawa from Scotland in 1974! I love that city.
Went there myself as a kid once to visit a museum with school, but then didn't go back until the summer of 2015. I enjoyed my trip so much that I decided to return no later than the year after!
We lived not far from the Natural History Museum (if it is still called that!) My kids called it The Dinosaur Museum! It was their favorite day out to visit it!
You must be talking about the Canadian Museum of Nature. Younger, I think that's the one I visited too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Museum_of_Nature
looks good
Yes, and even better in person.
I'm from Gatineau, so I go to Ottawa really often.
When I was strolling around in Ottawa, I went for a small walk in Gatineau as well, but not enough to my taste. Next time I go in the area, I plan to see more of it.
Fascinating! De mère française, j'adore apprendre ce genre de détail historique. Belles photos! Thanks for sharing.
Merci! Tout le plaisir est pour moi!
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