Canada tops Eh list — at least for a day
Embassy perfect for viewing inauguration
WASHINGTON— It’s sometimes tough getting noticed in this town when you represent a country that hums along nicely, seldom generating the kind of waves that rock the world’s boat.
But every four Januarys, rain, shine or hard-driving snow, everybody wants to be Canada’s friend in Washington, thanks to our prime digs on Pennsylvania Ave. where the view on inauguration day is beyond compare.
There are 178 foreign embassies in Washington, most clustered way, way uptown along Massachusetts Ave. Not one will command even a remote view of Monday’s ceremony, let alone a close-up glimpse of the parade that will take U.S. President Barack Obama to the White House to begin a second term.
Small wonder, then, that Canadian Ambassador Gary Doer and his team are making the most of their catbird seat at 501 Pennsylvania Ave., with a party for upwards of 1,500 guests.
“The response has been great and everything is in place for a pretty fun party,” embassy spokesman Chris Plunkett said.
“We’re doing it tailgate-style, with aCanadian twist — beaver tails, Tim Hortons, Molson’s, Crown Royal cocktails, plus a final sneak peek at the BlackBerry 10.”
Most of the action will be at the Embassy’s ground level, indoors and out, with two giant screens in the courtyard, one offering live TV angles from the nearby Capitol lawn and the other a social-media flow from inside the Embassy and around the world.
But a higher-level schmooze will take place up on the sixth floor, where Doer will be host to a cluster of high-level politicos, including Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and a dozen U.S. senators and congressional leaders. The view from Doer’s bay window overlooking the Capitol is truly magnificent.
Staff won’t name names of this year’s confirmed special guests. But the roster of past guests gives you the idea. John McCain has watched the parade from Canada’s rooftop in past years.
And if Newt Gingrich shows up this time, it will be a natural hat trick — the former house speaker was Canada’s guest for the second George W. Bush inauguration in 2005 and for Obama’s first in 2009. When American guests wonder aloud why Canada alone is rooted so near to the Capitol, embassy staff answer that the geography is deliberate — bricks-and-mortar symbolism of the closeness of Canada-U.S. relations. “The U.S. Embassy enjoys similarly prime real estate in Ottawa, which, again, is not by accident,” Plunkett said. The Embassy, which is coming up on its 25th anniversary, has been subject to some interesting urban myths over the years. One line of false history holds that the prized location was Washington’s gift in appreciation for Canada’s role in the saving U.S. hostages in Iran. Not true. Canada purchased the site in 1978, a year before the Iran crisis. But the alternate backstory is actually better, Plunkett said. “Legend holds that John F. Kennedy, when he was paraded along Pennsylvania Ave. in 1961 after being sworn in, turned to Jackie and said, ‘Wow, we really need to do something about this street.’ ”
Enter the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a longtime Kennedy loyalist, who in the 1970s played a central role in the eventual redevelopment of Pennsylvania Ave.
“Moynihan took it upon himself to see the street reborn as a kind of final gesture to Kennedy’s legacy,” Plunkett said. “And when the idea came up to include an embassy in the new configuration, Canada got the call.”