Barbara Raue

Ottawa Ontario Book 2 in Colour Photos Barbara Raue

Canada became a nation, the Dominion of Canada, in 1867. Before that, British North America was made up of a few provinces, the vast area of Rupert's Land (privately owned by the Hudson's Bay Company), and the North-Western Territory. By 1864, many leaders felt it would be good to join into one country. These leaders met and wrote a constitution for the new country, which had to be passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Once passed, it became known as the British North America Act which brought together the three provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Canada (which became the provinces of Ontario and Quebec). Manitoba and the Northwest Territories joined in 1870, British Columbia in 1871, Prince Edward Island in 1873, Yukon Territory in 1898, Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905, Newfoundland and Labrador not until 1949, and Nunavut separated from the Northwest Territories as its own unit in 1999. In the 1890s, when Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier spoke of making Ottawa a "Washington of the North", he wanted a new architectural style for the Capital that was distinct from American and older British models, in pursuit of grandeur. In 1982, the Queen and the Right Honourable Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister, signed the Constitution Act, 1982 to make Canada an independent nation. The Heritage Building is today part of Ottawa City Hall. It was originally built in 1874 as Ottawa Normal School and served as a teacher's college. The Gothic Revival building stands at Elgin and Lisgar Streets; several extensions were added to the rear of the building. In the 1960s the Ontario's teachers' colleges were merged into universities and this one was merged into the Faculty of Education of the University of Ottawa in 1974.