CANADA’S CHIEF JUSTICE GIVEN KEY TO THE CITY
OTTAWA’ S HIGHEST HONOUR
If anyone can be trusted with the key to the city it’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin.
Mayor Jim Watson presented the city’s highest honour to Canada’s top judge Tuesday at Ottawa City Hall during an A-lister ceremony that was inspiring and memorable.
McLachlin, a native of Pincher Creek, Alta., moved to Ottawa nearly 27 years ago from Vancouver after quickly climbing British Columbia’s judicial ladder, from county court to Canada’s highest bench. She arrived to the nation’s capital as a recently widowed mother of a 13-year-old son. “And I knew — and this is true — literally no one,” said McLachlin in her remarks.
Despite Ottawa’s reputation for being aloof, the judge found it anything but. Neighbours welcomed her by planting plastic flamingos on her front lawn. Strangers, including community leader Grete Hale, invited her and her son for dinner.
The chief justice spoke admiringly of Ottawa as a city of art and great beauty. Said McLachlin: “Some say this is a government town; a city of bureaucrats and bland functionaries mired in the torpor of the past, but this has not been my experience. Ottawa is a city that cherishes its past, to be sure, but it fights and it fights zealously to honour its heritage. But it is also a city that looks forward; a city whose citizens possess a honed vision of what the city is and what it can become in the future, and are prepared to fight passionately for that future.” DINNER FOR THE MUSICIANS
The chief justice and her husband, Frank McArdle, were out on the town again Wednesday at a concert and dinner party to help Canada’s next generation of orchestra musicians hone their craft.
The evening was graciously hosted by Israeli Ambassador Rafael Barak and his wife, Miriam, at their official residence in Rockcliffe.
The intimate gathering was part of the Music to Dine For series organized by the Friends of the National Arts Centre Orchestra to support scholarships and bursaries for young musicians.
Flutist Phoebe Robertson, who won the 2015 NAC Orchestra Bursary Competition, was a delight as she performed for more than a dozen guests.
A MARITIMES EVENING APPETIZER
Supporters of Evening in the Maritimes came together on Parliament Hill on Wednesday to chow down on chowder while promoting the signature gala for Citizen Advocacy of Ottawa and its program that connects people with disabilities to volunteers ready to offer them a lifeline of support and friendship.
The 22nd annual benefit, taking place Thursday, May 19, at the Hilton Lac Leamy, is the largest kitchen party around, complete with a four-course lobster dinner. Auction items include a smallship expedition cruise to Antarctica, worth $25,000, from One Ocean Expeditions and Worldwide Quest.
Present were Cape Breton-born Sen. Vern White and his honorary co-chair, David Cork, from Scotia Wealth Management, as well as Frank Bilodeau, district vicepresident of Scotiabank. It also got backing from Speaker of the House of Commons Geoff Regan, NDP MP Cheryl Hardcastle, and Sen. Jim Munson.
The crowd heard from Jenna Swan and Katie Perry, who were matched 10 years ago through Citizen Advocacy. “What Katie needed from Citizen Advocacy was a girlfriend,” said Swan in sharing her touching story. “What I didn’t count on was how much I would get from my relationship with Katie. I have gained a true friend, a sister, and someone who supports me in all of life’s ups and downs.” For more coverage, go online at ottawacitizen.com carolyn001@sympatico.ca