Assasination of Thomas D’Arcy McGee

One of Canada’s early political assassinations occurred in Ottawa on Sparks Street. On April 7, 1868, poet, Member of Parliament, and Father of Confederation Thomas D’Arcy McGee walked home after a particularly late session and was shot dead in the doorway of the rooming house where he was staying. A reward of $2,000 was offered to anyone who could bring the assassin to justice. Soon after, Patrick James Whelan, a tailor and Fenian sympathizer (Irish nationalists who brought their fight against England to the colonies) was convicted of the murder, though, years later, it was suggested that Whelan was chosen as a scapegoat. Held for months in the county jail (now the site of the Youth Hostel on Nicholas Street), Whelan was executed on the gallows outside the courthouse before a huge crowd on February 11, 1869. This was the last public execution in Canada. The Smith & Wesson Tip-up revolver that Whelan allegedly used in the crime was sold at auction to the Museum of Civilization in 2005 for over $100,000 (it had been held in a family collection for years, perhaps even going as far back as the event). As of 2000, the bullet was in the possession of the Ontario Archives, but when the 2005 sale of the gun brought attention to the story, the organization informed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that it had gone missing sometime within the last five years. A plaque has since been erected in front of the Royal Bank Building at 142 Sparks Street, identifying the location where McGee was assassinated. Just down the block, at the corner of Sparks and O’Connor Streets, printer George Desbarats (forebear of journalist Peter Desbarats and his daughter, poet Michelle Desbarats), who owned the rooming house where his friend McGee was staying, had originally put up the first memorial plaque soon after his McGee’s death. After it was erected, Desbarats had received an anonymous warning that his printing establishment would be destroyed; and sure enough, it was lost to a fire in 1869, barely a year after McGee’s assassination.

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 Posh

Ottawa socialite Marlen Cowpland is famous in the city for a number of things, including being the second and current wife of former Corel CEO Michael Cowpland, as well as for her daring fashions and her short-lived local Ottawa cable channel fashion show, Celebrity Pets. Some of her more outlandish exploits include: sporting spectacular over-the-top outfits at various Ottawa-area events, dyeing her pet poodle various colours (depending on the occasion), and being pulled over for speeding (and allegedly let off because she was on her way to a charity function). Some of the guests on her cable show included classical guitarist Liona Boyd (with cat), psychic JoJo Savard (with Maltese), Hollywood producer/director Garry Marshall (with two cocker spaniels), singer Jann Arden (with three cats), and professional wrestler Bret “The Hitman” Hart (with pug).

Michael Cowpland, along with Terry Matthews, founded Mitel Networks in Ottawa in 1973. The company developed and sold PBX (communications) systems, which made both Cowpland and Matthews multi-millionaires. Matthews went on to establish Newbridge Networks while Cowpland founded Cowpland Research Laboratory, which was later shortened to Corel. After successfully fending off an insider trading probe, he left the company in 2000, and currently heads ZIM Techologies, a wireless technology firm. If you get a chance, drive by the Cowplands’ 20,000-square-foot home on Soper Place, assessed for tax purposes at more than $10 million. There’s nothing in Ottawa that can compare to a house of mirrored glass and copper-coloured accents in one of the ritziest sections of Rockcliffe Park.

The Girl Next Door

It’s good to know that the Ottawa Valley’s wholesome image is being represented abroad by Shannon Tweed—yes, that Shannon Tweed. A prolific actress and, perhaps more famously, Playboy Playmate of the Year 1982, the St. John’s, Newfoundland-born Tweed represented the Ottawa Valley in the 1978 Miss Canada Pageant, placing fourth. Around the same time, her rich boyfriend opened a restaurant in Ottawa in her honour called Shannon’s, but neither the restaurant nor their relationship lasted. You can currently catch her on the reality TV show Gene Simmons Family Jewels, with her partner, KISS front man Gene Simmons, and their two teenaged children.

Parliament Hill Cats

Of all of the official positions held in this government town, perhaps the least known, yet no less essential, is that of “Cat Man.” Tucked in a small compound behind the wrought-iron fence west of the Centre Block, a population of feral cats has lived behind the Hill since the late 1970s, currently fed by presiding cat man René Chartrand. He took over from the original Cat Lady, the late Irene Desormeaux, in 1987, and has since gone to the Hill twice a day, every day, to dole out kibble (costing some $6,000 a year) purchased using money donated through discreet donation boxes affixed to the railings, as well as from his own pockets. Completely outside of the official designation of the Hill, the guides tend to skip the small shelters that house the feline brood, which have since been made more permanent, in wooden structures in the shape of the Parliament Buildings.

Ottawa Inventors

Inspired by the CBC-TV program The Greatest Canadian Inventions, we thought we’d present a list of a few of the great concepts devised by some of Ottawa’s citizenry.

Green Genius

University of Ottawa professor and chemist Dr Abdelhamid Sayari and his research team spent three years developing a material that can absorb carbon dioxide contained in various industrial gases and prevent it from being released into the atmosphere, thus reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global climate change.

Keeping Up the Pace

Dr John Alexander Hopps—originally from Winnipeg but a resident of Ottawa for many Years—is known internationally as the inventor of the world’s first heart pacemaker, introduced in 1951. In collaboration with Dr Wilfred Bigelow and Dr John Callaghan as part of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), he spent most of his career at the Montreal Road branch of the NRC. Their creation was first implanted in a human body in 1958. Poignantly, the very device Dr Hopps had developed was implanted in his own chest 30 years after its invention to correct his erratic heartbeat.

R-r-r-roll up the R-r-r-rim

After three years of developing a different invention, Ottawa inventor Paul Kind introduced his “Rimroller,” created to cleanly slice and unroll a Tim Hortons coffee cup rim in one motion, thus giving coffee drinkers easy access to the coffee chain’s promotional give-a-ways (the notifications are hidden under the cup rim, which can be difficult to unroll). Considering that Tim Hortons sells in the area of 300 million take-out cups of coffee a year, the invention is not nearly as foolish as it may seem. With the help of L-D Tool & Die in nearby Stittsville, the Rimroller became a reality in 2006 and is available at Lee Valley Tools, and at $1.95, is just a bit more than the price of a cup of coffee. This is not the only creation from the fertile mind of Mr Kind. He also invented the Handyfold, to perfectly fold letters to fit into envelopes, and the Bookhug, to hold your book open for you while you read.

Ottawa’s Carnegie Library

Library books were circulated in Ottawa as early as 1871, but the town had no building for that purpose until the early 1900s (before that, it was host to a number of reading rooms in hotel lobbies, as well as some “small fee-based libraries for working men”). In 1897, citizens formed the Public Library Board in order to persuade the city council to free funds to build a library. Eventually, Mayor William Morris wrote to American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (who, in the end, helped fund libraries around the world) soliciting funds for the proposed library. Carnegie donated $100,000 toward the building, provided the city would donate the land and $7,500 annually for upkeep. Although more than generous, many city councillors voted against the offer, believing their part of the bargain too expensive. But public opinion prevailed; the city purchased land at the corner of Metcalf and Laurier Streets, and construction began in 1905. Carnegie arrived in May 1906 to officially open the building, which was named the Carnegie Library in honour of his generosity.

Ottawa Cemetaries

The most famous eternal resting place in Ottawa is Beechwood Cemetery (280 Beechwood Ave., 741-9530). Established in 1873 as a Protestant counterpart to nearby Notre Dame cemetery, Beechwood is a National Historic Site, and only one of four cemeteries in the country to be designated as such. Have a look at the sections where veterans from the Northwest Rebellion (1885), World War II, and recent United Nations campaigns rest in peace. Also interred here are our eighth prime minister (and the handsome fellow on our $100 bill), Sir Robert Borden (1854-1937); the father of Canada’s Medicare system, Tommy Douglas (1904-1986); the inventor of standard time, Sir Sandford Fleming (1827-1915); Ottawa lumber baron J. R. Booth (1827-1925); the Saskatchewan poet John Newlove (1938-2003); and Confederation poet Archibald Lampman (1861-1899). Lampman even wrote a poem that suits this place:

Here the dead sleep, the quiet dead. No sound disturbs them ever, and no storm dismays.

Meanwhile, Pinecrest Cemetery (2500 Baseline Rd., 829-3600) is a veritable hockey hall of fame. Some notable skaters spending their eternal off-season here include: Boston Bruins’ left winger Arthur Gordon Bruce (1919-1997), former Bruins and Ottawa Senators players Harry Alexander Connor (1904-1947), Cyril Joseph “Cy” Denneny (1891-1970), one of the top-scoring left wings of his era (when he retired, he was the top goal getter in the history of the Ottawa Senators), and Senators players Erskine Rockcliffe Ronan (1889-1937), Gerald Edmund Shannon (1910-1983), Allan “Big Pete” Shields (1906-1975) (who won the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Maroons in 1934-5), and Alexander “Boots”
Smith (1902-1963).

The most prominent Catholic cemetery in the city is Notre Dame Cemetery (455 Montreal Rd.), the final resting place of hockey greats Alex Connell (1902-1958), Tommy Smith (1885?1966), and Aurel Joliat (1901-1986), as well as photographer Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002), World War I hero (awarded the Victoria Cross) Filip Konowal (1886-1959), statesman Louis-Felix Pinault (1852-1906), and Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier (1841-1919), along with his wife Zoé.

Shanghai

Shanghai on Somerset Street West has been a family restaurant for three generations and was first Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, opening in 1971, and owned by the Kwan family. Home of some of great food, exotic drinks and some of the best karaoke in Ottawa, hosted by MC Edward Kwan, aka “China Doll” (always dressed in outlandish and fun attire, and can often go through multiple costume changes over an evening) and Carmen (who has been described as Canada’s Andy Warhol). Ed Kwan also moonlights as the head chef. Check out their calendars, available for $10, or the side of the building for the mural of China Doll by Ottawa artist Melody Hovey. 651 Somerset Street West, shanghaiottawa.com

Beckta: Where the Rolling Stones Ate

Now that we’ve got your attention (the band actually did eat here when they performed in Ottawa a few years ago), one of the best dining experiences in town for French cuisine is said to be Beckta Dining & Wine (226 Nepean Street, 238 7068). Be prepared to spend about $250 for two people. At least you know both food and wine will be spectacular.

Next Page »