The Present

The magnificent site with its four Gothic Revival buildings has endured over the years as a strong symbol of nationhood for all Canadians. The Hill today has two distinct but complementary faces. One is the public face - the magnificent structures, the elaborate grounds, the historic monuments, the commemorative sites such as the Eternal Flame, the colour and pageantry of the Changing the Guard and the Sound and Light spectacle, the ornate Chambers of both the House of Commons and the Senate. Together, they create an image of a nation's freedom, history, cultures, languages, values, accomplishments, and aspirations.

But there is a second face to the Hill - a much less public face. It consists of the people and the whirr of activity that support the democratic process. Every idea, every opinion, every issue, every legislative initiative, every amendment brings with it hundreds and thousands of hours of research, analysis, advocacy, strategy, and debate at many levels. All the steps in the legislative process - broad consultations with constituents, the development of party positions, technical reviews by Committees, and formal debate in the legislative Chambers - are grounded in the infrastructure that makes up the Hill.

The visual and the physical presentation of the Hill must reinforce the importance of Canadians' sense of democracy. For many, the Hill is revered ground, where the experience of freedom and democracy is enhanced. As a consequence, the Hill, and most particularly, the broad common area in front of the Centre Block becomes a central meeting place for celebration, for commemoration, for dedication, for public debate and peaceful advocacy. Visiting royalty, heads of state, dignitaries, and others make pilgrimage to this tapestry of what defines Canada as a unique nation.

Behind the public landscape, there is the need for a vast mechanism that supports the Hill as the nerve centre for democracy. This means providing the most modern infrastructure and services for research, information management, communications, consultations, debate, visitors accommodation, security and administration to mirror advances in Canadian society and internationally.

The growth of Canada in population has added an ever-increasing number of Parliamentarians. That increasing number of legislators attracts growing numbers of visitors to the Hill - constituents, private and public advocates, as well as foreign and domestic delegations. There is also a steady increase in the number of tourists, both Canadian and others, attracted to the physical beauty as well as the symbolic significance of the Hill. In fact, close to two million visitors a year stream through the ornate stone and iron gates on Wellington Street and enter the special world of Parliament Hill. Parliamentarians and staff work at all hours, in all seasons, to continue the ongoing responsibilities of the House of Commons and the Senate, with the support of the Library of Parliament. There is also a continually growing contingent of media representatives in the Parliamentary Press Gallery, actively transmitting reports to Canadians and abroad.

There has also been an enormous expansion in the sheer quantity of legislation and the complexity of the legislative process. More parties, more legislation, more research, more advocacy, greater roles for Parliamentary Committees, the expanded role of the media, greater interest and access by the public - have all added to the "traffic" on the Hill. Information management, communications, security, administration, visitors' services, and many other functional areas must be upgraded and equipped with proper facilities and infrastructure to accommodate the changing speed, volumes, and complexity of the democratic process. There is a need to integrate the vari-ous functions that support the changing work of the Hill without jeopardizing the stature and the tradition of the external face.

Unfortunately, both the public and the behind-the-scenes faces of the Hill have deteriorated, not from deliberate neglect, but from maintaining the status quo in a world of unprecedented change. Mechanical and engineering systems that were state of the art when first introduced in the 19 th Century are no longer reliable in the 21 st Century.

Thus, this magnificent site is, most unfortunately, not as healthy as it may seem upon first glance. From a purely physical point of view, both the landscape and the buildings are in a state of crisis from accelerating decay. The wilderness landscape of the escarpment has been ravaged by erosion and by invasive species. The pleasure grounds have been paved over for parking and servicing. The forecourt has become a patchwork of concrete, asphalt, and poorly drained lawn. The buildings are suffering from a century and a half of exposure to the harsh Canadian climate. Roofs are leaking, stones are crumbling, and carved images are fading. Inside the buildings, makeshift arrangements reflect the inadequacy of the current building systems. Asbestos and outdated egress systems create serious health and life safety risks.

The original vision for Parliament Hill is in danger of becoming blurred and diminished if the physical and operational concerns of the Precinct are not addressed. This site was created to be a distinct place. Its buildings and its grounds were deliberately designed to provide a striking con-trast to the dense, rectangular grid of the downtown core. They offered a generosity of space, both exterior and interior, that welcomed the Canadian public into the political domain. This was a new idea at the time. The first public parks were only beginning to appear in the mid-19 th Century, and Ottawa was the first national capital to have its Parliament Buildings set within a public park. The precinct had a clear set of boundaries. There was the river and the canal on the north and east, the Bank Street valley on the west, and the beautiful stone and iron fence along Wellington. Within these boundaries, people could participate in the workings of Parliament and could interact with the politicians and civil servants who served them. Now the boundaries are unclear.

The strong integration between the activities of the legislature and the setting of Parliament has been undermined. Until thirty years ago, most core Parliamentary activities could be accommodated on the Hill. The Chambers, the Committee rooms, the caucus rooms, and the Parliamentarians' offices were within the precinct. Now those functions have been scattered. Members and Senators have offices in converted commercial buildings on the south side of Wellington. Parliamentary Committees have been forced to find room in leased and purchased space in the adjacent downtown core. Visitors who arrive in Ottawa and make the trip to Parliament Hill, expecting to find there the true workings of parliamentary democracy in Canada, may find themselves being directed back to a commercial address on Sparks Street in downtown Ottawa. Most Canadians feel a far different sense when presenting a position before a Committee or meeting in a member's office situated off-site as opposed to one that is within the ambit of the symbolism and grandeur of the Hill. Even within the existing buildings, the logical patterns of use and circulation have been compromised by temporary safety measures and functional upgrading.

There is a need to re-establish the boundary between the Hill and its work and the everyday life of the modern city. While the Ottawa River on the north and the Rideau Canal on the east provide natural boundaries on those sides, there is a need to reaffirm a southern boundary at Wellington Street and to establish a western boundary at Kent Street to provide a definitive expression of the fixed limits of the Hill.

The hallmarks of democracy are transparency and accountability. The public must have access to the Hill to meet with members of the Houses, to view debates in the Chambers, to attend Committee meetings, as well as to participate in public events on the grounds and in public buildings on the Hill. This requirement for access must be balanced against the needs for security - security of property, members' safety, privacy, protection of files and information, and maintenance of electronic and other infrastructures. Related to the need to balance access and security is the need to design facilities and infrastructure that can accommodate the logical and coherent patterns of work of Parliamentarians, while respecting the access rights of Canadians.

The Hill has many uses both symbolic and practical, and all of these must be taken into consideration when developing a future vision and plan for a site that belongs to all Canadians.