Economy
| Communities |
Politics
| Canadian and World Events |
Local
Events | Personalities |
Religious and Social
Aspects
| Arts/Culture
Economy
The city of Ottawa had been a government town from the day it was
designated as Canada’s capital, but government dominance of the economy
increased significantly after the end of the Second World War, when the
federal civil service expanded a great deal. In 1971, 32% of the male
labour force and 28% of the female labour force were in the civil
service. With the expansion of government, a demand for more space for
its offices and employee houses created a building boom that lasted
virtually unchecked from the 1940s through to the 1980s.
Ottawa was one of the last major Canadian cities to be penetrated by the
national chains. Sears arrives in the 1960s and The Bay arrived in the
1970s. Until then, the city was still served by family firms such as A.J.
Freiman (bought out by The Bay in 1971) and Charles Ogilvy Ltd. The
construction of the Sparks Street Mall has been seen as the last gasp of
these small retailers. It was a difficult task because it involved
closing the premier city street to traffic. From 1966 it was operated
year-round and was the first such mall in the country. It represented
the still-strong influence of the Upper Town retailers who were able to
gather the political support and funding to close the “Broadway of
Ottawa”.
Other factors in the economy included the emergence of the high-tech
industry in the late 1960s, especially in Kanata, known as “Silicon
Valley North.” This industry began with Microsytems, now Bell Northern,
in 1969. By the 1970s, there were 40 high-tech firms in the city, most
Canadian-owned. The extraordinary growth was triggered by the presence
of the National Research Council and the Communications Research
Council.
Communities
In 1950, when the majority of Nepean Township was annexed by the City of
Ottawa, Nepean was suddenly made a rural, low-density township once
more. By the 1960s, however, development and immigration were increasing
both the population and the services available. In 1961, the population
reached 20,000, the 1949 pre-annexation number, and by 1969 it was up to
56,000.
The creation of the greenbelt had been a struggle and continued to cause
problems. The land was falling into ruin because its value was lower
than land elsewhere. This led to the destruction of rural communities as
farmers moved to the city, bought farms elsewhere in the county, or
rented their properties from the National Capital Commission.
As in 1950, Ottawa was running out of land by the 1970s, but this time
it could not annex its neighbours with the promise of better services
because of the creation of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton
in 1969. This region encompassed 1,100 square miles and 500,000 people.
Development and planning were complicated in Ottawa by the presence of
the federal government as an owner and leaser of land, as well as the
National Capital Commission as a planning body. For example, Hull,
Quebec had been traditionally excluded from the government economy but
in 1969 the government decided to help Hull “catch up” by building the
new office complexes of Place du Portage and Terrasses de la Chaudière.
This was not universally welcomed. These offices and the expansion of
the use of French in the public service plus improved road and transit
services across the Ottawa River made Hull a more attractive place to
live. Nepean, Kanata, and Gloucester were also draws for former
urbanites, so population density in the core began to decrease in this
period. Complementing this shift were the beautification schemes of the
NCC, such as the removal of rail lines, which created a more attractive,
not too busy city centre rich in heritage dwellings.
Politics
Some of the political conflicts in the city of Ottawa during this time
period stemmed from the fact that the city was literally being remade as
the National Capital, a national symbol for the federal government. Yet
Ottawa also faced many problems common to all Canadian cities, such as
greater provincial intervention in education, welfare, and planning.
Thus politics in the National Capital Region tended to consist of
“fragmented, multileveled competition between intervening governments.”
One strong opponent to government interface was Charlotte Whitton,
Ottawa’s mayor from 1950 to 1956 and 1960 to 1964.
Canadian &
World Events
A less desirable defect of Ottawa’s national prominence was its status
as a target during the FLQ (Front de Libération du Québec) Crisis of
October 1970. After the kidnapping of Pierre Laporte in Québec, the
Canadian Armed forces and the RCMP were brought in to ensure the
security of the Ottawa area. 121 trucks of supplies were sent from Camp
Petawawa and 2,500 soldiers were deployed by midnight on October 12.
They stood guard at public buildings and the homes of cabinet ministers,
parliamentary leaders, and diplomats. Ottawa residents were stunned by
their presence. Charles King, associate editor of the Ottawa Citizen,
declared: “I share the chagrin of most Canadians that such a display of
force is necessary… I hope they [the soldiers] don’t have to stay… but
I’m damned glad to see them after the events of the past week, and I
wonder whether we haven’t been living dangerously without them in the
past.” Fortunately, there were no incidents in Ottawa and the soldiers
were gone by November 21.
Local Events
One benefit of being the nation’s capital was that Ottawa was host to a
national Centennial extravaganza in 1967. Between April and October, not
less than 54 heads of state or their representatives came to the city,
ranging from the Shah of Iran to the President of Iceland. On Canada
Day, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip participated in an elaborate
ceremony that began the night before when 30,000 people went to
Parliament Hill to close Canada’s first century of confederation. The
Peace Tower tolled midnight and church bells rang throughout the city.
The next day the Queen cut a 24-foot high cake, and ice cream, soft
drinks, and cupcakes were served to 50,000 people.
Personalities
Nepean’s reeve from 1970 to 1979 was
Andrew Haydon
. He
was an outspoken, grudgingly respected, stocky crew-cut professional
engineer with strong conservative opinions. He once declared, “he would
personally execute criminals to prevent ‘mad dogs’ from preying on
society.” He was accused of exorbitant spending and enounced as dangers
for his opposition to low-income housing, but he introduced one of the
most innovative senior citizens assistance programs in the province and
advocated “land socialism” to curb land speculation.
In 1960 at the age of 21,
Anne Heggtveit received a hero’s
welcome upon returning to Ottawa. She had just won the Ladies’ Olympic
Slalom, the World Slalom, and the Combined Alpine in Idaho. She was
greeted by forty fellow members of the Ottawa Ski club, the majority of
Ottawa, and the minister of citizenship.
Robert Campeau, one of Ottawa’s most successful and notorious developers
moved to Ottawa in 1947 to work as a machinist at the Canadian
International Paper Company. He built a house for his bride in Alfred,
40 miles east of the city, in 1949, but before it was even completed he
sold it for a good price. With the profit he built another house and
bought land on which he built 12 more. By 1950 he had left his job to
become a homebuilder full time. His first development was the 700-acre
Elmvale Acres in Ottawa South. By 1966, he had built and sold 12,000
units in the Ottawa area and in 1969, his company, Campeau Corporation
Ltd., went public. By 1979, his company had over 2000 employees and
assets of $1 billion.
Religion/Social
Bilingualism in the capital was on the rise due to its increasing
presence in the civil service. In 1962, the federal government began
issuing pay cheques in French and English. The following year French was
officially declared a working language in the public service and
language bonuses were given to bilingual employees. Still the Bilingual
and Bicultural Commission in 1967 criticized the English cast of Ottawa
and pressured for more improvements. Thus the NCC was made the
instrument of symbolic bilingualism in 1971, when it became responsible
for ensuring that all signs and symbols on government land and buildings
reflected and supported both languages. Under these pressures Ottawa
City Council became bilingual in 1972. Because of the greater use of
French in the public service, Ottawans were encouraged to send their
children French immersion programs, which received federal funding from
1971, so they could compete in the job market.
All of these forces began to change the demographic layout of the city.
French speakers began moving into middle-class and professional
occupations and middle-class neighbourhoods. Yet the city was still
highly polarized throughout the 1970s, with the French living
predominantly in the centre and east and the English in the south and
west.
Women, workers, and ethnic groups also experienced new opportunities in
this period. There was a greater acceptance of women in management
positions and of their working after marriage. Affirmative action was
introduced to the public service. Many Asians, especially Chinese and
Vietnamese, and Lebanese immigrated to the city. These new social
relationships caused the virtual disappearance of the Orange parade in
the 1970s, which had still drawn 50,000 spectators in 1960.
Arts/Culture
The occasion of Canada’s Centennial and the associated funding made
available by the federal government prompted many new projects. The
Merivale and Bell ice rinks were opened in 1965 with heated dressing
rooms, seating for 1000, artificial ice plants, electric scoreboards,
and canteens. The Ottawa-Nepean campsite was opened in 1968 to attract
more tourists to the region.
The federal government changed the face of the city throughout this
period by constructing many national cultural institutions including a
geological museum, national gallery, national archives, museums of Man,
technology, war, and aeronautics, the National Film Boards, and the
National Library. Old lumber buildings in Lower Town and on Sussex
Street were restored and re-used. The federal government had a key role
in the construction of the
National Arts Centre and was also a key
partner with the universities, contributing to the expansion of its
scientific research capabilities. Despite this, many local endeavours
were left to struggle on their own, particularly the Ottawa Public
Library, the City Archives, the Ottawa School of Art and the Bytown
Museum. Nevertheless, the city managed to produce such local
sports stars as Russ Jackson and
Denis Potvin and nurtured
the Ottawa 67s, a talented, provincial
junior hockey team put together by local entrepreneurs, .
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