Yes, we will skate

The opening of a skating rink on Parliament Hill, to cap off festivities for the 150th anniversary of Confederation, is as romantic an initiative as the building of a baseball diamond in an Iowa cornfield.

For those who make it to Ottawa from Dec. 7 to the end of February — be they wobbly-ankled or poetry-in-motion on the blades — skating beneath what’s been called the country’s “preeminent backdrop” will be an experience as Canadian as they come.

“Skating is an amazing form of self-expression,” Canadian Olympian and former national skating champion Josée Chouinard has said. “It’s like my soul at play.”

Being a government project, there are rules, of course. Skaters have to reserve 48 hours ahead. Stints on the ice will be limited to 40 minutes. No games like tag. No pucks. No sticks.

But, hey, what hockey players couldn’t use a little work on their skating? And who isn’t thinking of hot chocolate and a beaver tail after a half-hour, anyway?

Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly — who will be joining all backyard-rink makers across the country in hoping for a good oldfashioned Canadian cold spell — was laudably quick in reacting to demands that the rink be kept open for more than the initially scheduled three weeks.

Joly announced the extension in a tweet on Thursday, saying it “will allow even more families to lace up their skates for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Besides, what better from a political point of view than to amortize a price-tag that raised some eyebrows over a longer period?

If the price, at $5.6 million, did seem a little steep for just three weeks, the richness of the symbolism is invaluable — a giving-over of high government ground to the people and another step in reclaiming the location from recent horrors.

Over the years, the greensward between Ottawa’s downtown Wellington St. and the grandeur of Parliament has known crime, tragedy, comedy, ceremony and great national moments.

It has seen everything from the hard knocks of rugby games to the more meditative exertions of yoga lovers. Letting skaters join the fun seems as Canadian as getting amorous in a canoe.

So much the better that the Canada 150 Rink will play host to a kids’ hockey tournament rather than another round of the NHL’s much-franchised Winter Classic.

And best of all, the boards and glass will be dismantled and donated to a community in the Ottawa-Gatineau region once its time in the national spotlight is done.

Until then, let it be known that Canada says: Hey, you kids! Come skate on our lawn!

If the price, at $5.6 million, did seem a little steep for just three weeks, the richness of the symbolism is invaluable