Parliament Hill Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Parliament Hill Colline du Parlement
Parliament Hill, as viewed from Gatineau at sunset on a July 2014 summer's day
Location	Ottawa River / Wellington Street, Downtown Ottawa, Canada
Built	1859–1927
Built for	Legislature of the Province of Canada, Parliament of Canada
Architect	Calvert Vaux, Marshall Wood (landscapes) Thomas Scott (oversight)
Visitors	3 million annually
Governing body	National Capital Commission
National Historic Site of Canada
Official name: Parliament Buildings National Historic Site of Canada
Designated:	1976
National Historic Site of Canada
Official name: Grounds of the Parliament Buildings National Historic Site of Canada
Designated:	1976

Parliament Hill (in French: Colline du Parlement) refers to a set of buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada, where the Government of Canada meets and Members of Parliament make laws. It is called Parliament Hill because it is on a hill above the Ottawa River.

There are three main buildings: the West Block, the East Block and the Centre Block.

A fire in 1916 burned the Centre Block and only the library was saved. The building was rebuilt and the Peace Tower was finished in 1927.

The roof of each building is made of copper which turns green over time.

There are many statues around Parliament Hill including many former Prime Ministers and 5 famous women who helped women gain equal rights in Canada. There is also a centennial flame that was lit when Canada turned 100 years old.

Statues and monuments

Most of the statues on Parliament Hill are arranged behind the three parliamentary buildings, with one outside of the main fence.

Figure	Portrait	Statue	Notes
Sir George-Étienne Cartier			This was the first statue erected on Parliament Hill, to the immediate west of the Centre Block, at the instigation of Sir John A. Macdonald. From amongst proposals from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy, Louis-Philippe Hébert was chosen to form the monument, which was set up in the 1880s.
Sir John A. Macdonald			Louis-Philippe Hébert was selected from 44 submissions from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, to sculpt the statue of Canada's first prime minister. In the 1880s, it was unveiled at the south east corner of the Centre Block.
Queen Victoria			Located at the north-west corner between the West and Centre Blocks, the statue of the country's first monarch was sculpted by Louis-Philippe Hébert in 1900, and dedicated by Prince George, Duke of Cornwall and York, in 1901.
Alexander Mackenzie			Placed directly to the north of the statue of George-Étienne Cartier, Louis-Philippe Hébert was commissioned to sculpt this figure at the same time as he was awarded the project of the monument to Queen Victoria. The statue was unveiled in 1901.
Sir Galahad			This is the only statue on Parliament Hill that is not of a monarch or politician, or within the site's fences. It was installed in 1905, at the initiative of the future prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, in order to honour the bravery of his friend Henry Albert Harper and is the work of Ernest Wise Keyser.
George Brown			This statue was created by George William Hill, and erected in 1913, just north of the monument to Alexander Mackenzie.
D'Arcy McGee			The competition for this sculpture took place simultaneously with that for the rendition of George Brown, and was won also by George William Hill. It was unveiled in 1913, at its location northwest of the Library of Parliament.
Robert Baldwin and Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine			This dual statue by Walter Seymour Allward has occupied the site at the northeast corner of the parliamentary precinct since 1914.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier			This work by Joseph-Émile Brunet was selected from 40 entries received from around the world and was placed at the southeast corner of the site in 1922.
Sir Robert Borden			Frances Loring cast this likeness for the 1957 session of parliament opened by Queen Elizabeth II; it stands at the southwest corner of Parliament Hill.
William Lyon Mackenzie King			This statue was commissioned for the Canadian Centennial in 1967, designed by Raoul Hunter, and stands at the northwest corner of the East Block.
John Diefenbaker			This statue was initiated by an Act of Parliament, and Leo Mol was chosen from 21 submissions to sculpt this 1985 work, which stands immediately north of the West Block.
Lester B. Pearson			In 1989, Danek Mozdzenski was commissioned to form this monument that rests immediately north of the West Block.
Queen Elizabeth II			Situated in the opposite corner of the site from the statue of her great-great-grandmother, the monument was sculpted by Jack Harman and unveiled in 1992, in the presence of the Queen, as part of the 125th anniversary of Confederation celebrations.
The Famous Five			This monument was donated in 2000 to the Crown by the Famous 5 Foundation and is a collection of five individual statues, by Barbara Paterson, of each of The Famous Five—Emily Murphy, Irene Parlby, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, and Henrietta Edwards— as well as one empty chair. It is located at the east edge of the precinct, to the south of the statue of Queen Elizabeth II.

A number of other monuments are distributed across the hill, marking historical moments or acting as memorials for larger groups of people.

Monument	Image	Notes
Centennial Flame		Lester B. Pearson dedicated this fountain and flame on January 1, 1967, to mark the beginning of the Canadian Centennial.
Canadian Police Memorium		This memorial was designed and constructed to honour Canadian police officers killed in the line of duty since 1879. Dedicated on March 22, 1994, the memorial has since been expanded to include the names of fallen officers from all law enforcement agencies, including the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Ministry of Conservation.
Victoria Tower Bell		Unveiled in 2000, the bell is the original from the Victoria Tower, and is canted to recall the way in which it was found after it fell from its perch in the fire of 1916.
War of 1812 Monument		Seven figures—a First Nations individual, a Métis militiaman, a British infantryman, a Quebec Voltigeur, a woman bandaging one of them, a Royal Navy marine, a farmer—represent the War of 1812. Also part of the monument is a maple tree planted in soil taken from 10 Canadian battlefield sites and watered at the dedication with water from six oceans and lakes significant in the War of 1812. It was dedicated on November 6, 2014, the 200th anniversary of the war's final battle in Canada, the Battle of Malcolm's Mills.

Images for kids

The Ottawa locks of the Rideau Canal, with Barrack Hill—present-day Parliament Hill—right of centre; 1832
Centre Block under construction in 1863
Troops deliver a feu de joie on Parliament Hill for the Queen's Birthday Review in 1868.
The parliament buildings the morning after the fire of 1916
The special Diamond Jubilee window of Queen Elizabeth II alongside Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee window
The southen front of the property is demarcated by a wrought iron fence. A portion of the Queen's Gates is pictured in the right foreground.
Aerial view of Canadian Parliament Buildings and its surroundings
The Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council Building is one of several federal properties situated next to Parliament Hill

Parliament Hill facts for kids

Statues and monuments

Images for kids

See also