'Oh, Canada...'
Penelope Johnston on feelings of pride in North America.
Canadians have always had an identity crisis. Travelling outside the country a Canadian knows what it feels like to be a Canadian; in his lapel he or she proudly wears a Maple Leaf pin, but once back home immediately forgets the feeling.
'The building of a new $162 million National Art Gallery, a $255.3 million National Museum of Civilisation and a $21 million National Aviation Museum are seen as important symbols to unite the country', states Jean Piggott, chairman of the National Capital Commission. 'These new buildings will give Canadians feelings of pride in their capital, Ottawa; a sense of history and, at the same time, preserve the treasures of the past'.
In 1982, the then Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, set aside funds for the construction of a new National Art Gallery and a new Museum of Civilisation. Trudeau decided that the site for the art gallery should be on the English side of the Ottawa River next to the Parliament Buildings, and that the new museum should be built in the city of Hull in the Provence of Quebec (the French side) to reflect the duality of the nation.
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