Canada Day 2017 in Ottawa
 

So I've come and gone a few times today and while there were many good and better things about Canada 150, there are also a bunch of blunders that I might call significant.

- Who's idea was it to have tens of thousands of people go through three small choke points to get on the Hill? I fully understand the need for security and searches but geez... more points of entry and staff would have hurt. Some people waited 7.5 hours.

- Would it have killed them to pre-screen food vendors and staff and have food and beverages inside the secured zone on the Hill? As is stands people who waited hours to get in have to line up again if they need to leave the zone to get food and drink.

- They said leave your car at home and take transit but it was very inadequate on both sides of the river. Sunday service for the most part, and very few extra buses. What were they thinking? One anecdote: there was a shuttle service between the National Gallery and Jacques-Cartier Park across the Alexandra Bridge. A very short hop. But the buses were infrequent and the stops on either side of the river weren't even clearly marked. And on the Ottawa side they allowed hot dog vendors to set up shop right where the buses stopped. So people getting off the buses walked right into hot barbecues...

- Canada Day shuttle bus services stopped at 6:30 pm for an event that will end after 11 pm. WTF?

In case you missed the canada day coverage on tv:

1) feel proud :)
2) feel ashamed :(
3) repeat

The issues were broadcast on radio all day, and with the off and on rain, I am sure thousands were discouraged from going downtown. I personally couldn't face the line-ups for buses and entry and the mud.

My cousin was a vendor and she forewarned all of us at a family gathering in the last week about access to food and refreshments being outside the secure perimeter. I could not imagine how awkward it would be and how difficult it would be to move around downtown even on foot.

Can you imagine if this had been a nice day and tens of thousands more had decided to go downtown?

I predicted just in the last couple of days that Sunday Service was not appropriate for such a big event and it was mentioned on radio that people were waiting for over an hour for a bus with massive line-ups at Park n Ride lots and full buses not able to pick up passengers in inner parts of the city. When planning such things, it is always best to offer too much service. If the city budget can't handle it, make people pay inbound so there is some revenue to cover the cost rather than skimping on service.

I really feel for the out-of-town visitors who waited in line and could not get to the Hill. The rain certainly didn't help but hey like JT said, we are a hardy bunch, a bit of rain is not gonna kill us :)

I stayed home for most of the day and went to the Canadian Museum of History after dinner to check out the new History Hall. I took the Ottawa River Parkway from Barrhaven and it was a breeze, I ended up parking at a McD close to the Museum because there were quite a bit of road closures around the area.

I stuck around for the fireworks and I'm sure glad I did because that was one of the most spectacular show I have ever seen. Getting out of the area wasn't too bad and again there was almost no traffic on the Parkway.

Uber drivers must be making a killing last night and so did AirBnB operators I suppose! Hope to be around for the 200th!

I used both transit and my car to get around. Transit was undependable, unpleasant and overcrowded (both STO and OC Transpo). The car was much easier and traffic wasn't really that bad though parking was a bit more challenging but not intolerable.

I stayed home and watched bits and pieces of the afternoon and evening TV coverage on TV. Out of curiosity, what were the "feel ashamed" bits for you?

Shania Twain looked ill-prepared when she spoke. Especially the bits she said in French.

This was surprising because I have it on good authority that the speakers had huge teleprompters in front of them.

I was surprised at her struggles, although I guess credit for the effort. Doesn't she live in Switzerland? I was also surprised to see that Sandra Oh has what seemed like adequate French (thank the National Theatre School, I guess).

I watched Gordon Lightfoot's performance with mixed emotions, as I expected. On the one hand, it's Gordon Lightfoot. On the other, one wonders whether some performers don't carry on when it might be a happier choice to let their better days occupy the public imagination. Amazing, however, to realize that he also performed on the Hill for the Centennial in 1967!

Sandra Oh - French immersion in Barrhaven too.

The things you learn - I always thought she was from Vancouver! :tup:

Watching on tv was like:

"Canadians are so wonderful. We should all be proud and grateful that we're canadians!!!!"

Mixed with ...

"Canadians are nasty colonizers who should be ashamed of themselves and should be forced to apologize forever "

I don't know if I'm coming or going anymore

They didn't help the PM.

The country has grown tremendously and we have a bright future. I toured the History Hall last night and saw exhibits about the government refusing Asian and Jewish immigrants in the early 20th century.

Rightly or wrongly, it was a part of our history and like they say, those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. It is a powerful exhibition and I encourage everyone to go see it. Free admission continues until end of day today.

I drove and parked in Old Ottawa East...no issues getting in or out. Stayed away from the hill and went for food at 1130 and 445 to avoid the rush. Had one colleague that waited 4 hours and another that wasted over an hour in a phantom line.

The Royal Tour of the NAC and Shopify didn't help the OC Transpo issues in the afternoon. There was also so much pedestrian traffic in the area that it was a bit of a free for all. They did use motorcycle cops to try to clear the backup later on but could have used more cops with whistles to keep the intesection clear.

They sort of got their act together for the security check by the evening show. I took chance on the line up at 8 pm, which snaked twice around the Slater/Elgin block. I was in by 9:15 and managed to get within 50 feet of the stage.

I thought most of the day was a bit of a let down though, they failed to scale up the programming which should have been more spread out and ramped up for double the usual Canada Day. A lot of it was just wading through crowds, there could have been more entertainment (even if it was just piped in music) all around. Queen Street not being finished was unfortunate, it could have done a better job handling the overflow from Sparks and the security enclosure of Wellington.

All I would like is to have the Canada Day 150 airshow every year.

The complaints are par the course for any event like this. The comments on reddit about Wellington "looking like the North Korean border" or the guns being scary or the helicopters being intimating just makes me hate the average streeter

Grow up- reality is calling

I would never have complained about it but it was kind of freaky to see all the concrete barriers and especially the heavy construction machinery and dump trucks when you thought about what they were for.

Unfortunately, we live in an time where it would feel far more freaky if they weren't there.

Friends came over from Montréal and they couldn't comprehend how bad the logistics were. It took them one hour by bus from the Train station because of the bus lineup on McKenzie Bridge. Saying that garbage bins were overflowing is to minimize the reality. It was just a big mess in the core and I don't get why nobody got fired because of that. Heck if something so badly organized would have happened in Montréal, there would have been a riot.

I know that Ottawa is not used to big events, but it's not like the 150th was a surprise. It was a big screw-up.

WOW, so it was Sunday service that was in place. Who the fuck thought that was to be a good idea? Instead of showing how great the city is, it showed how incompetent the deciders are!