Federal government buildings are symbols of democracy.

All of the properties along Wellington Street opposite Parliament Hill in Ottawa are the focus of an international design competition. This is so wrong. Foreign architects should be banned from any project involving national, Crown-owned properties.
 1.)  House of Commons Debates   Ottawa   May 20, 1971.
Mr. Jack Cullen (Sarnia-Lambton, Ontario.) Liberal.
     "I want to deal primarily with one area to show the problem that would be faced by an immigration officer, and why the department commissioned a study of this particular matter. Although it is somewhat foreign to my own field, I want to talk about architects...Architects in Canada, as we know, plan and design private residences, office buildings, theatres, public buildings, factories and other structures, and organizes the services necessary for their construction. They consult with a client to determine size and space regulations, and provide information regarding costs, design, materials and equipment.
...Architects have other problems to meet, such as those caused by the changing seasons we have in Canada. How can an architect from the state of California, knowing nothing about winter conditions in Canada, claim he is in a position to plan the types of buildings that we need."
(From: Request for copy of a study regarding development of guidelines to establish Canadian Equivalence of Foreign Degrees and Diplomas.)

2.)  The government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau expropriated all the of buildings across from Parliament Hill on Wellington, and along Sparks Street Mall in 1973, in order to save them; and to expand the Parliamentary Precinct:
House of Commons Debates   Ottawa    July 20, 1973.
Hon. Jean-Eudes Dube (Minister of Public Works) Liberal.
     "Mr. Speaker, for a number of years it has been recognized that Parliament faces a severe space problem creating a limitation of its effective operation. As Parliament has become, through its committees and in other ways, even more involed in all aspects of the nation's life, it has become much more a year round operation and space available has fallen behind its needs as they have developed in the modern era.
    "Moreover, concern has been expressed about the danger of visual encroachment on the beauty of the present parliamentary precinct, which is one of the great symbols of Canada. We must ensure that nearby developments do not adversely affect it and furthermore, we have an opportunity, I believe, to enhance the present precinct by enlarging and therefore completing it in a fitting manner.
     "To properly house the expanding requirements of Parliament for generations ahead in a way that would both compliment and preserve the existing beauty of the Parliament Buildings we must enlarge the present parliamentary grounds.
     "I wish therefore to announce Mr. Speaker, that I have today, on behalf of the government, filed a notice of intent to expropriate the land and buildings in the area bounded by Wellington Street, Elgin Street, Sparks Street and Bank Street. The purpose of this expropriation is as I have indicated to protect the environment of Parliament from any development which could adversely affect it...The property of the United States Embassy has been excluded from this expropriation but discussions are well advanced for its acquisition. (Emphasis mine.)
     "I should like to add a few words, Mr. Speaker, with respect to the existing properties and especially the Sparks Street Mall. It is the government's intention that until Parliament's needs have been fully defined there will be no disturbances whatsoever of the existing properties. This will be especially true of the commercial operations on Sparks Street....I want to assure everyone involved that on the Mall it will be business as usual."

3.) Senate Bill S-203 was introduced in November 2019 by Senator Serge Joyal. The Bill has already passed the Second Reading and will stop any demolition, alteration, facadism, infil developments etc. of historic buildings along Wellington and Rideau Streets known as the Parliamentary Precinct.

4.)  The design competition is international and the I.M. Pei Company of New York City and a Spanish firm have already signed onto the project. This is completely unacceptable, a foreign individual should not have the power to strip Canadian Maple Leaf Flags from government buildings (the Barbarians always stripped flags and nationalistic symbols from villages and towns they invaded and eventually destroyed.) Also, a foreigner should not have the power to build office towers that are taller than the Parliament Buildings' Peace Tower; demolish Classified Federal Heritage Buildings or Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings; remove the names of significant individuals from an ediface; and wrench Canada's Coat of Arms from the entrances.

5.)  Ottawa is the Capital City of Canada, and taxpayers from all across the country fund the National Capital Commission--- a Crown corporation that privatizes federal buildings and changes the landscape of the city. The City of Ottawa should not be so eager to acquiesce to the demands of Public Works and the NCC, by changing zoning laws and encouraging the construction of high rise buildings on the Sparks Street Mall --the Councillor for Somerset Ward wants to animate the Mall by permitting the construction of high-rise residential towers.
 Deputy Prime Minister Erik Nielsen designated the Experimental Farm, LeBreton Flats, the Natural Resources Canada complex on Booth; the Greenbelt and many other sites "National Interest Land Mass" properties, to protect them from redevelopment, and to stop the City from using the NCC as a land bank. The City has identified 13,800 acres of the Greenbelt that could be removed from the Greenbelt and used for housing. The LeBreton Flats, Tunney's Pasture, Confederation Heights and vacant land along Woodridge Crescent near Bayshore Mall are also being redeveloped.

6.)  The American Embassy is located on Sussex Drive, Canada's Mile of History, and Sussex Drive is a ceremonial route. The embassy looms over the surrounding landscape and is nicknamed "The Battleship" and "The Bunker." I believe that US President Bill Clinton designed the embassy because it resembles the William J. Clinton Library and Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas.

7.)  Canadian politicians have always encouraged the participation of home-grown architects in national projects:
House of Commons Debates   Ottawa  April 28, 1965.
The Hon. Mitchell Sharp (Minister of Trade and Commerce) Liberal.
     "Habitat '67 can best be described as a housing complex rather than an apartment building. It will be constructed on the Expo '67 site by the Canadian Corporation for the 1967 World Exhibition...Moshe Safdie and Associated Architects are the ...designers of the building...The design was not the result of an architectural competition."

8.)  The Department of Public Works does not seem to have any respect for historic buildings that are part of its inventory. The Art Deco" Paul Martin Sr. Federal Building" on Ouelette Street in Windsor, Ontario was given away for $1 dollar to the City of Windsor. Most of the southern part of the Sparks Street Mall was sold to the NCC and then privatized---the Thomas D'Arcy McGee Building is a Larco property and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is renting their premises.

9.)  A foreign or Canadian architect may not respect the history or culture of my country. Larco Investments, owners of the Chateau Laurier Hotel and McGee Building on the Mall; the Dominion Building on One Front Street West in Toronto and the Hotel Vancouver, demolished an Arthur Erickson home in West Vancouver, where Warren Beatty and Julie Christie lived during the filming of "McCabe and Mrs. Miller". Another Erickson home in West Vancouver was a filming location for the recent "Twilight-New Moon" movie:

Graham House is gone.

The Edward Cullen House.