Canadian War Museum

In its new building just off LeBreton Flats that opened in 2005, the Canadian War Museum features an array of items, including one of Hitler’s cars, 19thcentury artillery pieces, tanks, and a variety of other artifacts. The museum showcases not only Canada’s military history during times of war, but also how the military helped shape the country itself. One of the highlights of the new building is Memorial Hall, designed to directly illuminate the headstone of the Unknown Soldier with sunlight each Remembrance Day at 11 a.m. A few weeks before the new building opened, one of its War of 1812-era guns – a Henry model 1808 Contract pistol – went missing from an open display case. After some media attention suggested an inside job, and the director of the museum encouraged the thief to return the item, “no questions asked,” the gun mysteriously reappeared a week later, hidden in a crate of other materials. As the police fingerprinted all the staff, working through more than 150 suspects who had access to the area, a couple of out-of-town workers simply never showed up again, not even to collect their last paycheques (who can say if any of this is related). Not that it would have been an easy item to get rid of. Worth up to $5,000, a flintlock pistol isn’t something you can drop off at the pawnshop. 1 Vimy Pl., 819-776-8600 or 800-555-5621