Some of you have been gracious enough to say good things about the previous article in this series on Leo Mol. The rest of you can blame those individuals for encouraging me.

On every tour of Ottawa you’re bound to take your out-of-town relatives by the Prime Minister’s residence at 24 Sussex Drive and, opposite it, Rideau Hall, the Governor-General’s residence. For this one time park the car, get out and walk in the main gate of Rideau Hall. Keep to the left. Note that some of the trees have plaques stuck into the ground before them. Read one or two of them. Yes, every head of state that visits Ottawa plants one. A tree, not a plaque. You’re looking for one labelled "Leonid Danylovych Kuchma, October 24 1994, President of Ukraine". Go up about 2/3’s of the way to the house, but before the intersection to the right. Look to the left, It’s behind one labelled Kim Yong Sam President, Republic of Korea. If you’ve in front of the tree planted by King Abdullah in ‘99- you’ve gone too far, Queen Noor & King Hussein- not far enough. If you’ve found Lech Walesa’s - you’re on the wrong side of the road.

The tree is a Ukrainian kashtan, often translated as chestnut. In fact, it is a horse chestnut, Aesculus Hippocastanum. True North American chestnut trees were virtually wiped out by a virus some 100 years ago. It was planted by the Ukrainian head of state when a Ukrainian was serving as Canada’s head of state. Those of you who may wish to use the tree to express a political opinion should remember that the kashtan never did anyone any harm. Besides, security is tight these days.

UKRAINIAN ROSE

Now turn around and face West. At the base of the hill you’ll see the rose garden, marked by a modern colonnade. Every major event, and every major group, in Canadian history is marked by a different rose. The Ukrainian community is commemorated by the Chloris, a hardy rose first bred in France in the early post-Napoleonic period. It is located between flowers dedicated to the ‘Lebanese’ & ‘Other East European’ ethnic groups. Want more directions? Tough luck, keep looking – it’s about time you did some of the work.

The Rose Garden was the idea of Gerda Hnatyshyn, wife of the 24th Governor-General. What started off as a simple idea, like Topsy, just growed and growed. Eventually, the concept expanded to include hundreds of different types of roses, the colonnade, the fountain and other elements you see before you. All of this has been privately funded, through donations from a large number of corporations and individuals.

RIDEAU HALL

If you take the inside tour, look for the official portrait of the Right Honourable Ramon John Hnatyshyn who served as Governor-General from 1990 to 1995. He made himself very popular among Ottawans by reopening the grounds of Rideau Hall, closed by his predecessor, to public access and use. For more information on the grounds, garden and Mr. Hanatyshyn’s many accomplishments as Governor-General,, check the GG’s web site at: http://www.gg.ca/ .

DFAIT

The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade is headquartered in the Lester B. Pearson building, a large, dark brown modern edifice on Sussex between the old Ottawa city hall and the new Saudi embassy. Inside front door, turn left After crossing a large open area, you will see on your right, beside the staircase to parking lot, a painting by William Kurelek. Titled "Our World Today", it shows children innocently playing with miniature cars and buildings inside a barn, while the town and fields outside, and the roof of the barn itself, are catching fire. Why would DFAIT buy such a work? Perhaps they saw in it a refutation of Senator Dandurand’s statement in the 1930’s that Canadians lived in a ‘fireproof house’ and thus did not have to become engaged in the League of Nations or other foreign affairs issues. Quite appropriate, given the name of the building and the fact that Pearson dedicated his life to refuting Dandurand’s approach to Canada in the World.

To those few of you whom are actually reading these articles – are there any themes, topics or sites you’d like to see written p in this series? If so contact me through this site.