Poets' Pathway: The Proposal

When Ottawa became the capital of Canada in 1867, the Fathers of Confederation wanted to make it a capital worthy of comparison to any capital city in the world. They understood that a true capital is more than bricks and mortar. They wanted a city to lead Canada in arts and sciences, culture and intellect. To that end, they encouraged worthy poets, writers, scientists and artists to move to Ottawa to create the "Florence of North America."

The group that really helped create Canadian English poetry and literature was a group of Ottawa poets, The Confederation Poets, comprised of Archibald Lampman, Duncan Campbell Scott and William Wilfred Campbell. They jointly wrote a column in the Toronto Globe, in 1892-1893, entitled  "At the Mermaid Inn." It has become renowned as the genesis of Canadian literary criticism, and the heart of Canadian literature.

As well, a group of French speaking poets and authors belonging to the Mouvement littéraire came to Ottawa from Quebec City when the civil service moved to Ottawa in 1870. This group included Alfred Garneau, Antoine Gerin-Lajoie, Achilles Frechette and others. They are considered some of the most important poets and writers in 19th Century French Canada.

(Here is a synopsis of the literary culture of Ottawa in the 19th Century.)

(Here are some quotations from the Fathers of Confederation, and others, about Ottawa as a literary capital.)

Ottawa is therefore the literary heart of Canada, yet there is no monument, museum or memorial to their achievements in Ottawa, nor anywhere else in Canada. We have no place to share the ideas and imagination of the creators of Canadian culture. The Poets' Pathway Committee proposes the creation of a pathway to honour and commemorate Canadian poetry and literature, in the city and place that was the inspiration for some of Canada's greatest words.

It was a sense of place that motivated the enduring literary achievement of the Confederation Poets and the Mouvement littéraire. The natural environment that inspired these artists should be preserved as a memorial to our Canadian literary heritage.

 

The Poets' Pathway would be a continuous 30-km pathway, running from Britannia Bay along the valleys of the Pinecrest and Nepean Creeks, across the Rideau River through the Southern Corridor, including McCarthy Woods, then north along the Eastern Corridor, including Pleasant Park Woods, and finally along the Rideau River and Beechwood Avenue to Beechwood Cemetery. With the exception of the “urban” segment of Beechwood Avenue, this trajectory is strictly along either existing or planned recreational pathways.

 Comments? Suggestions? Visit the Poets' Pathway Forum!

A First Submission to the NCC

Since 2002, the NCC Board of Directors has been inviting "local interest groups" to make presentations to it to inform the Commission's strategic planning. The Greenspace Alliance was the first group to respond to the call with a presentation on the proposed Poets' Pathway. Read the submission here.

Meetings with NCC staff followed. There was no offer of support.  Instead, we were referred to the Commission's Commemoration Policy, with a request that we submit a business plan.  For better or for worse, the Committee felt that, without an initial indication of support-in-principle on the part of the Commission, developing a business plan would not be feasible.

 

Comments? Suggestions? Visit the Poets' Pathway Forum!

 

Poets' Pathway at the 2002 Ottawa International Writers Festival

In September 2002, the Poets' Pathway Committee participated in the Ottawa International Writers Festival by putting on a performance at Arts Court, "The Poets' Pathway: A Walk Through Ottawa's Literary History."  Six actors, Pádraig Finlay, Peter Politis, Chris Roberts, Katryn Baker, Allan Meltzer and Mark Leahy,  dressed up in period costume and recited poems of the Confederation and Mouvement littéraire poets and their contemporaries, in between telling a bit of their (the poets') life stories.
 
A chap book was also published (ISBN # 0-9731550-0-0), containing, essentially, the May 2002 brief to the NCC as well as a selection of poems by the Confederation and Mouvement littéraire poets.
 
Theresa Jobateh attended this event and wrote a delightful pictorial essay about it.
 
 

Status of the Proposal

The Poets' Pathway is referenced in section 2.2.1.2 of the 2003 Ottawa 20/20 Arts and Heritage Plan:

“Work with the NCC ... to ensure that on NCC lands and along recreational pathways commemoration of local individuals, places, events and structures are developed, maintained and improved, and additional themes introduced, e.g., Poets’ Pathway.”

And section 4.6.5 of Ottawa's 2003 Official Plan states:

“The pathways are part of the Greenspace Network and provide connections among communities and major tourism, cultural heritage and greenspace features.”

One anchor of the Pathway, Poet's Hill at Beechwood Cemetery, was inaugurated in September 2006. This was made possible thanks to the generous cooperation of the Beechwood Cemetery Foundation. Further construction is required. The Foundation accepts tax-receipted donations to support completion of the site; please mention "Poet's Hill."

Most of the remainder of the Pathway is on lands for which the National Capital Commission is responsible. The NCC has not yet offered its support for our proposal.

While much of the Pathway is along established recreational paths -- so that realization of the Poets' Pathway there would merely involve erection of appropriate plaques and signage -- in some parts the pathway network is only in the planning stages (ever since at least the 1994 Recreational Pathway Plan developed by the NCC in cooperation with the municipalities) and there are some significant obstacles to connectivity. These obstacles include:

- the area around Ottawa General Hospital;

- from Kitchener Avenue to McCarthy Woods, across the Airport Parkway; and

- crossing the Rideau River.

In September 2006 the Community Foundation of Ottawa accepted the Poets' Pathway project as eligible for donations, under the aegis of its Ottawa Sustainability Fund.

 

Under "NCC Renewal," elsewhere on this web site, there is information about a new mandate for the NCC for so-called surplus lands.  Read about the NCC's appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board of Ottawa's 2003 Official Plan, which designates certain lands in the Southern Corridor as Major Open Space, on the Canadian Poets' Park page.

 

 

Comments? Suggestions? Visit the Poets' Pathway Forum!

The Poets' Pathway in the Ottawa Citizen

On September 10, 2006, the Ottawa Citizen published a major article on the Poets' Pathway. written by Janice Kennedy. Here is a photographic image of the article.  It is noteworthy not only for its content but also for the excellent graphics. Read the text of the article here.

A year earlier, Kate Heartfield, a member of the Citizen's editorial board, had devoted a glowing column to the Poet's Hill project.

Back in 2002, Steven Artelle, then chair of the Poets' Pathway Committee, had a guest column about the Pathway published in the Citizen.

 

Comments? Suggestions? Visit the Poets' Pathway Forum!

Submission to the NCC Mandate Review Panel

As documented elsewhere on this web site (see "NCC Renewal"), in 2006 the federal government conducted a review of the NCC's mandate. The Poets' Pathway Committee made a submission to the Panel headed by Prof. Gilles Paquet.

Here are some highlights, expressed in oral presentation:

* For this project to be realized further, the cooperation of the NCC is indispensable. The Pinecrest and Southern Corridors as well as the shores of the Rideau River are under its control.

* Most critically, the focal point of the Pathway, the meadow west of McCarthy Woods, and a connecting corridor further west, are on its surplus list and candidate for development. These lands are part of the Southern Corridor. We envisage this meadow and the adjacent Woods as a future “Canadian Poets’ Park.”

* We have twice formally approached the NCC’s Board of Directors and have had several meetings with staff before and after these presentations.

* On both occasions the reception was less than helpful. Mr. Beaudry, in his reply of 2005, while supportive of a commemoration of Canada's national poets, suggested that the pathway should be in the core area. Doing so would not be in accord with the fundamental concept of the Pathway as a commemorative walk through natural landscapes.

* What’s more, this reply reveals the limited perspective of the Commission on its tourism mandate. Tourists are interested in more than visiting Parliament Hill and the Museums.

* The NCC to date has not seized the opportunity we are offering to create something that is uniquely Canadian and fully meets its mandate to explain Canada to Canadians.

* Note that page 13 of the paper that was submitted to you states:

“The NCC takes the lead in working with sponsor groups to identify sites for permanent monuments of national significance in Canada’s Capital ... and it supports the development and design process for particular projects.”

An implication here, which is confirmed when one looks at the Commission’s Commemoration Policy, is that commemoration is thought of as taking the form of “monuments.”

* We’re not even asking for the NCC to “take the lead” – all we’re asking for is an agreement in principle and technical assistance and advice, e.g. on appropriate standards and cost of explanatory plaques. With such an agreement in hand, we are quite prepared to take the lead in detailing the specifics of the route and do the fundraising.

* In conclusion, while we realize that your recommendations to the Minister will likely be at a high level and not include specific directions, we hope that our proposal can serve as background and example of how the NCC can do better in fulfilling its mandate of presenting Canada to Canadians while at the same time preserving important greenspace in the Capital.

 

Comments? Suggestions? Visit the Poets' Pathway Forum!