Marching toward 1M: 7 moments that marked Ottawa's growth into a big city
Witnesses to key events in the capital’s history share their memories
Ottawa has grown from a lumber town to a sleepy government hub to a metropolis of one million.
CBC spoke with some of the people at the centre of significant milestones in our city's history about their memories of those moments.
1967: Ottawa hosts Canada's centennial party
Naturally, the apex of Canada's 100th birthday celebrations took place right here in Ottawa, and a local bakery was asked to make a cake fit for the Queen — not to mention all the other invited guests.
Today, Ottawa's used to crowds descending on Parliament Hill for the big party, but in 1967, it was all new.
"It was the very first big gathering on Parliament Hill," said Grete Hale, 90, whose business was asked to provide the giant nine-metre cake.
The result was part fruitcake, part inedible structure to achieve the height, and entirely covered in royal icing. Hale says the Duke of Edinburgh even snuck a bit of the sweet topping as he walked by.
"You've never seen a more splendid birthday cake," Hale recalled.
Click on the video below to hear Grete Hale and her sister Gay Cook describe how Canada's birthday cake nearly didn't fit onto Parliament Hill.
1979: Ottawa opens its arms to 4,000 'boat people'
Stitched into the fabric of Ottawa's urban pride is the story of Project 4000, when then mayor Marion Dewar led the movement to bring 4,000 Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian refugees to Ottawa — per capita, more than any other Canadian city.
Vietnamese refugee Phap Lu spent three weeks floating in the ocean before landing in a refugee camp in Malaysia, where he was offered the chance to come to Ottawa.
"Where?" he asked.
Lu's first impression when he arrived in 1979 was of a very quiet city. Now, as the owner of a local taekwondo studio, he considers it his civic duty to inspire young people and "produce good citizens" for the city he loves.
1983: The Transitway opens
The Transitway revolutionized bus transit when it opened in 1983. It was the first rapid transit system in North America with streets set aside exclusively for buses. The idea was copied across the continent.
Nicole Valiquette started driving for OC Transpo in the 1980s. She says the Transitway marked the beginning of a new era for the city.
"It meant Ottawa was growing and it was becoming a very important city," she said.
The Transitway partially closed in 2015, when construction on the Confederation Line of the LRT began.
"Now that you don't have it, you appreciate it so much, and you miss it," Valiquette said.
1992: The Senators return
When the modern-era Ottawa Senators kicked off their inaugural season in 1992, lifelong fan Jim Bonner was part of the sold-out crowd at the Civic Centre. He says getting an NHL franchise was a big moment for the city.
"It was surreal to think that all of a sudden we were going to be put on the sports map, and host the likes of the Wayne Gretzys and the Jaromír Jágrs and the Pavel Bures ... the true stars of NHL hockey," Bonner said.
The crowning glory? The Sens won that first game against the Montreal Canadiens, 5-3.
1997: SOS Montfort
On March 20 1997, high school student Mélanie Desmarais was among 2,000 students who protested the planned closure of Ottawa's Montfort Hospital by marching to the institution and forming a human chain around it.
Years after the fully bilingual hospital was saved, Desmarais started working there as an occupational therapist.
"I think saving the Montfort put Ottawa on the map. It brought a whole bunch of people — a whole bunch of French Canadians together — in fighting for our language," she said. "I'm proud that I fought for something I believe in."
1998: Nelson Mandela visits Ottawa
Nelson Mandela visited Ottawa three times after his release from prison.
In 1998, as president of the Republic of South Africa, he spoke to Parliament and unveiled a plaque at the Canadian Human Rights monument near City Hall.
That was the year 11-year-old Tsholofelo Dintwa, a South African immigrant, got to meet her hero. Now 31, Dintwa believes Mandela's visit to Ottawa made a difference to race relations in the city.
"It was a moment when people started to accept different races more," she said. "I think people started beginning to treat others differently with the understanding of what he was fighting for."
2015: Ottawa welcomes Syrian refugees
In December 2015 Ottawa embraced another huge humanitarian effort, this time to resettle thousands of Syrian families to the capital, just as it had with Vietnamese and Somali communities decades earlier.
Mohammad Al-Sultan and his family were among the first to arrive. Since then, baby Fatima and twins Marwa and Safa have been born at the Montfort Hospital. As an Uber driver, he frequently marvels at what he sees around the capital.
"I'm so happy here. It's a beautiful city," Al-Sultan told CBC News. "At night it's so, so beautiful … with the lights."
