Stopwatch Gang

The Stopwatch Gang, led by Ottawa’s own Paddy Mitchell (who grew up in Little Italy), Stephen Reid (of Massey, Ontario), and Lionel Wright, are perhaps Canada’s most infamous bank robbers. The trio, whose orchestrated meticulous heists never took longer than 90 seconds, robbed more than 100 banks and armoured cars during the 1970s and 80s in the United States and Canada. Their most notorious job was a 1974 gold heist (worth $750,000) at the Ottawa airport, earning themselves a place on the FBI’s most-wanted list. The gang’s exploits were detailed in several movies, including Point Break (1991) and The Heist (2001), as well as in the book The Stopwatch Gang (1992) by Toronto Sun reporter Greg Weston, and in Mitchell’s own memoir, This Bank Robber’s Life, which he wrote in prison and sold over the Internet. While still in jail, Reid wrote his own book, a semi-autobiographical novel titled Jackrabbit Parole. Through this book he met his editor, West Coast poet and writer Susan Musgrave, and in 1986 they married while he was still imprisoned. Upon his release a year later, he and Musgrave attempted to live a quiet life on Vancouver Island, and had a child as well. He appeared as a rifle-toting security guard in a 15-second cameo (as well as acting as the film’s bank heist consultant) in the independent movie Four Days (1999). Unfortunately, in the spring of 1999 in Victoria, BC, his heroin addiction resulted in a return to crime and a botched robbery and shootout; currently, Reid remains in prison. The leader of the gang, Patrick “Paddy” Mitchell, called “North America’s most famous, most successful and, especially, most likeable bank robber of our time” by his son, grew up on Preston Street in Ottawa, and died of cancer on in 2007 in a US prison while serving a 65-year sentence. Wright served his sentence, and according to a 2005 report from the CBC, worked as an accountant for Corrections Canada. The gold from the airport robbery in 1974 was never recovered.

Ottawa Macabre

The Ottawa region is relatively safe for residents and visitors alike. Nevertheless, the area has been the site of a few strange and disturbing fatalities over the years. Hopefully these are the exceptions that prove the rule:

In the town of Perth, just an hour’s drive west of the city, the last fatal duel in Ontario occurred on June 13, 1833. Two law students and former friends, John Wilson and Robert Lyon, had been quarrelling over remarks Lyon made concerning a local teacher, Elizabeth Hughes, whom both men were interested in. The outcome: Lyon was killed, and Wilson was charged with murder. Wilson, who was eventually acquitted, married Elizabeth Hughes and later became an MP and a judge.

In 1882, a man committed suicide in the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica (otherwise known as La Basilique Cathédral de Notre-Dame, 385 Sussex Dr.), putting a bullet in his head after a mass. A gang of priests had to be sent in to re-consecrate the church afterwards.

In 1998, 21-year-old Ottawa resident Jérôme Charron died in an accident on a “reverse bungee” (also known as a “catapult bungee” or “ejector seat”) a ride at the SuperEx at Lansdowne Park on Bank Street. The ride, called “The Rocket Launcher,” consists of two poles feeding two elastic ropes down to a two-passenger car; once released from its electro-magnetic latch, the car is shot straight upwards with an acceleration of 4.8 Gs, with a maximum altitude of 55 metres (180 feet). Instead, the ride hurled him 40 metres (130 feet) into the air before his harness became detached, causing him to plummet to his death. In 2000, the American firm responsible for the ride was fined $145,000 for the incident. Provincial inspectors had apparently inspected and approved the ride just four days before the accident, but did not inspect the faulty strap.

University of Waterloo PhD student Ardeth Wood was 27 years old when she went missing while cycling along the Aviation Parkway on August 6, 2003. After an extensive search by police and community volunteers (the largest search operation ever undertaken by the Ottawa Police Service), her body was found on August 11 by a specially trained OPP cadaver dog, just metres from where her abandoned bicycle had been found. Her murder launched one of the largest manhunts in Canadian history. It also opened up a dark chapter in Ottawa’s own history, as women all over the city suddenly no longer felt safe to leave their homes after dark, especially along remote bike paths. In October 2005, Chris Myers, a 25-year-old Ottawa resident, was found in North Bay, Ontario and charged with the murder, as well as four other counts of sexual assaults.

In the winter of 2006, the naked body of a seven-month-pregnant Vanier woman, Kelly Morrisseau, was found in Gatineau Park, having been stabbed more than a dozen times. With accusations by members of her family in June 2007 that the attention on her murder had waned because she was Aboriginal, the Assembly of First Nations put up a substantial reward for information, adding $2,000 to the $2,000 already offered by Crimestoppers.

Ottawa Barber Shops

If you’re a devotee of traditional barbershops with the swirling barber poles and the old men swapping stories, check out either of the two locations of the Imperial Barber Shop (46½ Sparks St.; 275 Slater St.), or some of Ottawa’s other options, including Victoria Barber Shop (9 O’Connor St., 284-5465), the Glebe Barber Shop (201-738 Bank St., 231-3343), or Moderno Barber Shop (116 Preston St., 236-5677). Looking for a different kind of barbershop? You can always check out a performance of Ottawa’s own 85-plus chorus of the Capital City Chorus, which represented Ontario in the 2008 International Convention of the Barbershop Harmony Society in Nashville.

Country Fairs In and Around Ottawa

Throughout the Ottawa Valley, whether in Ontario or across the river into Quebec, you can find a county fair almost every single weekend of the summer. Here are a few of the highlights, if you feel like going for a short day trip.

The Shawville Fair: Shawville, Quebec (1 hr drive west): Started in 1856, this county fair is held on the Labour Day weekend every year. Carp Fair: Carp (1 hr drive west): Held near the end of September every year, the Carp fair also holds an ongoing Farmer’s Market .

The Glengarry Highland Games: Maxville (1 hr drive east along the 417 Hwy.)

the largest Highland Games in North America, and one of the largest in the world. Founded in 1948, the games are held from Thursday to Saturday on the August long weekend (the first weekend of the month) in Glengarry County. Events include the North American Pipe Band Championships and the highland dance competition, as well as the usual caber, sheaf, and hammer toss, and more kilts than you can shake a stick at. Glengarry is not only the oldest county in the province, but the home of the largest concentration of Scottish immigrants in Canada.

The Williamstown Fair, Williamstown (11/2 hr drive east)

Called the home of Canada’s oldest annual fair, Williamstown sits in the middle of
of Glengarry County .

Other Ottawa Valley Fairs

Birth of the Mulligan

A “Mulligan” is a golf term that refers to a “do-over,” or free shot to substitute for a mistake. But who was the original “Mulligan,” the lax linksman who gave the shot its name?

Turns out it was David Bernard Mulligan, who during the 1920s ran the Lord Elgin Hotel on Elgin Street for a while before moving to the United States. Originally born in Pembroke, Ontario, Mulligan was a member of a number of clubs, including the St Lambert Country Club in Quebec. A real comedian, he insisted on repeating failed swings during his games, and for whatever reason, he not only got away with it, it also became a running joke.

Ottawa Ski Hills

Fortune-ately Ottawa’s best option for a winter ski vacation is Camp Fortune, only a 15-minute drive from downtown. It boasts 20 ski trails, ranging from beginner to experienced. During the off-season it has great mountain biking trails.

Two other options would be Mont Cascades (448 Mont Cascades Rd., 888-282-2722,) in nearby Cantley, Quebec, with night-skiing, snowboarding, and 19 trails; or Mont Tremblant in Mont Tremblant, Quebec (819-425-8681, a farther drive outside Ottawa (about two hours), but it has the highest peak in the Laurentian Mountains and plenty of other winter activities to keep you busy, including dogsledding, horseback riding, ice climbing, cross-country skiing, and a snowboarding snow park (like a skate park, but for snowboarders), which includes an Olympic-sized half pipe.

Other Ski Locations in the Ottawa Area:

Calabogie Peaks Resort: Calabogie (near Arnprior), Ontario, 752-2720

Mont Ste. Marie: Mont Ste. Marie, Quebec, 819-467-5200

Mount Pakenham: Pakenham, Ontario, 624-5290

Vorlage: Wakefield, Quebec, 819- 459-2301

Skiing: a New Idea?

Lord Frederick Hamilton introduced skiing to the Ottawa area in 1887. Brother-in-law of Lord Lansdowne, Governor General, Hamilton brought a pair of Russian skis with him during his stay at Rideau Hall. Though his first skiing demonstrations were booed by some onlookers (not all new ideas are greeted with open arms), the activity soon caught on.

By the late 1930s, when the popularity of the sport soared, roughly a third of the 50,000 skiers in Ontario lived in Ottawa. Once considered one of the great skiing centres of this continent and the world, Ottawa is now home to the Canadian Ski Museum at 200-1960 Scott Street, where you can find a detailed history of skiing, and a collection of old skis and ski equipment from Canada and around the world (open daily, closed holidays; 722-3584).

Canada’s Parliament Buildings

Thought originally to be an Algonquin camp (given the view of the Ottawa River), the modern site of Parliament Hill would first become a military barrack (Barrack Hill). But when Queen Victoria dubbed Ottawa the Capital of the Province of Canada (a region made up predominantly of Upper Canada and Lower Canada, now Ontario and Quebec) in 1857, construction of the Parliament Buildings began. The neo-gothic stone buildings and the spire of the Peace Tower are the heart of political life in Canada, including the Senate, the House of Commons, and the Library of Parliament.

The Peace Tower houses a 53-bell carillon, a huge clock, and the memorial chamber commemorating Canada’s war dead. Through all of this, the seat of Canadian government still sits on disputed Algonquin lands. In 1916, a huge fire destroyed everything but the library. Construction of the new Parliament Buildings turned out to be plagued by the same problems as the original. Shortages due to World War I, coupled with construction difficulties, delayed the expected completion date by several years before the government’s new digs finally opened in 1920. The new Centre Block was sympathetic in style with the existing buildings on Parliament Hill, but close inspection, especially from the rear where comparisons with the original library are easily made, will reveal the differences.

The new building was constructed to be resistant to fire, incorporating intricate stone carvings in place of much of the original wood panelling. As well, since they used soil taken from a landfill across the river, an Aboriginal burial site where the Museum of Civilization currently sits; some say it is entirely possible that the second Parliament Buildings include fragments of Natives’ bone in its structure. Currently housed on Wellington Street, the original Parliament Buildings (both pre- and post-fire versions) were expected to house the entire government of Canada, but with new provinces and new portfolios, the original buildings quickly became too small. The thinking for the subsequent construction was, “the closer the better,” with newer foundations broken for the Confederation Building, the Supreme Court, the Library and Archives Canada Building, the Langevin Block, the Bank of Canada, the Department of Trade and Commerce, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the original United States Embassy.

There was talk a number of years ago about creating some new buildings on the Hill for the sake of new office space, but the state of disrepair in some of the buildings is so advanced that prominent stonemasons were warning as recently as May 2007 that “without emergency repairs, someone could be killed by falling masonry,” and that even a minor earthquake could do permanent damage. They’ve known about the problem for years (major repairs on the West Block have been going on for some time), but the state of disrepair might simply be overtaking government inaction.

Unfortunately, some of the recent government action in the Langevin Block included Prime Minister Stephen Harper lining an entire hallway with portraits of himself, just outside of his office. For general tourist information, a good place to check while on your way through the Parliament Buildings site, or before you get there, is Capital Infocentre at 90 Wellington Street (across from Parliament Hill, 239- 5000).

Wipe The Slate Clean

How could any guide to this government town be complete without an entry for the international company Iron Mountain, who will happily destroy all of your office records for you?
1-800-32 -8345

The Old Registry Office

Known as the Old Registry Office, that little building on the west side of the Rideau Centre at 70 Nicholas Street was erected in 1873 and used as the city registry until 1909. Eventually, it was sold to the federal government in 1935 and has remained empty and unused now for years. One of only four of its kind left in Ontario, it remains an understated but impressive example of Victorian architecture, with barrel-vaulted ceiling and outside adornments. The Registry was later sold to the Viking-Rideau Corporation in the 1990s without any stipulation that the building had to be preserved, and there has been talk of moving or even destroying it so the Rideau Centre and the Ottawa Congress Centre can be expanded. For a while, literary historian Steve Artelle was in talks with the city to let the Ottawa Literary Heritage Society use the space as a museum, but so far, nothing has come of it.

Samuel de Champlain: a Monument With a View

With the help of local guides, French explorer Samuel de Champlain reached the present-day site of Ottawa on June 3, 1613, portaging two days later past Chats Falls on the upper Ottawa (then the Grand
River), and paddling along Lac des Chats up to what is now Arnprior, Braeside, and Sand Point. In 1915, a monument to de Champlain – depicting him gazing wisely through an astrolabe – was unveiled at Ottawa’s Nepean Point, which is behind the National Gallery of Canada (just west of Sussex Dr. and St. Patrick St.).

Unfortunately, the sculptor Hamilton MacCarthy had de Champlain holding the instrument upside down (it took years for anyone to notice). Nepean Point also boasts a lovely view of the area, including Gatineau, Quebec, and Chaudière Falls. The Astrolabe Theatre (just behind the Gallery; 239-5000) at the point features a 700-seat amphitheatre and is the scene of concerts and shows throughout the summer.

The Long Journey of the Astrolabe

It’s believed that de Champlain lost his astrolabe, a 17th-century model of the ancient navigational instrument, during a difficult portage through the Cobden area northwest of Ottawa in 1613. The device was lost for centuries until turning up in a farmer’s field in the Ottawa Valley, dug up by a plow. Marked “Paris 1603,” the instrument was found in 1867 by a young boy who was clearing brush with his father. It was eventually sold to a Toronto businessman, then purchased by an American collector for $500. The new owner willed it to the New York Historical Society upon his death in 1942. Canadian officials worked for years to repatriate the item unsuccessfully until 1989, when the astrolabe finally returned to Ottawa in conjunction with the opening of the Museum of Civilization; the Ministry of Communications and Culture paid the American Museum a “token” fee of $250,000. It now holds pride of place at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, just across the Ottawa River from the statue on Nepean Point. Some question the authenticity of the object, but apparently there are only 35 such surviving astrolabes from the 17th century like the one de Champlain used.

The Department of Missing Monuments

In 1966, the Department of the Secretary of State proposed four monuments for Parliament Hill. Two of them – tributes to Prime Ministers William Lyon Mackenzie King and Louis St Laurent – were commissioned, and can be easily found on the Hill. But what happened to the other two, built for lesser-known prime ministers of the 20th century, Arthur Meighen and Richard Bedford Bennett? The first, for Meighen, was completed in 1970 but never received final approval by the government and remained in storage for years before finally being installed in 1987, in Lind Park, in the town of St. Marys, Ontario, the town nearby to his birthplace and where he was eventually buried. The Bennett statue was rejected at the model stage not, as then-Secretary of State Judy LaMarsh explained, for a lack of artistic merit, but because the work wasn’t suitable “as representations to future generations of the statesmen of the past.” Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s words on the two statues were far more specific, referring to the Meighen statue as “the greatest monstrosity ever produced – a mixture of Ichabod Crane and Daddy Longlegs,” and the Bennett model as a “mummy.” With these monuments now hidden somewhere in the National Capital Commission storage, it is unclear if replacement statues of the two will ever be commissioned.

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