 |
magazine / oct11
 |
October 2011 issue |
|
|
|
EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
Our second home
Wherever we live in Canada — on a farm, on
an island, in a village, town or city — we actually
have two homes. The nation’s capital is our symbolic
second home. It’s a centre of politics and diplomacy, but
it also plays a role in reflecting the entire country, representing
our social values and nurturing our collective identity.
There’s no denying that many Canadians have a love/hate
relationship with Ottawa. Our nation, a somewhat disparate
and decentralized confederation of cities, regions, provinces and
territories, seems to love Ottawa bashing. But that has usually
been over politics or policy. As a showcase of Canadian values
and personality, the capital does a darn good job. Icons of
national pride abound: Parliament Hill and Rideau Hall, of
course, but think about all the cultural and ecological gems —
the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of
Civilization, the Canadian Museum of Nature, Gatineau
Park, Mer Bleue Conservation Area and, the glue holding it
all together, the Ottawa, Rideau and Gatineau rivers. But,
like most things, it can always be made better.
Since its creation in 1959, the National Capital Commission
(NCC) has been planning, designing and beautifying the capital
and its region. This fall, the NCC launched a long-term planning
exercise on the future of Canada’s capital, intended
to engage and inspire Canadians from now until the country’s
bicentennial in 2067. Yes, that’s right: 2067.
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society is one of the
NCC’s partners in this process. Through this issue of Canadian
Geographic and its French counterpart Géographica, as well as the
enclosed bilingual poster map, ambitious online components
and cross-country public forums, we are helping the NCC with
its nationwide consultation. If, as author John Ralston Saul
wrote in A Fair Country, Ottawa is “the capital of the people
of Canada,” then the people must have a say in its future.
To kick-start the conversation, this issue offers four
thoughtful essays by Ottawans who have a passion for the
capital and for certain specialties: culture, diplomacy, language
and multiculturalism and the wild spaces of the region.
You may agree or disagree with their views, but either way, I
hope you take the time to express your own opinions by commenting
at www.canadiangeographic.ca/horizon2067 or by
attending one of the forums in Ottawa, Québec, Halifax,
Victoria and Edmonton.
Artist, geographer and map-maker extraordinaire
Steven Fick has left the staff of Canadian Geographic. Steve joined
the magazine in 1989, in the era when maps were made with
scribing tools, light tables and layers of positive and negative film.
Through his years with CG, he introduced countless cartographic
innovations, including airbrushed illustrations, maps made using
software, such as Adobe FreeHand, Illustrator and Photoshop,
and GPS data-driven thematic maps. In 1998, the Canadian
Cartographic Association (CCA) presented Steve with the Award
of Distinction for Exceptional Professional Contributions to the
Practice of Cartography, and in 2005, the CCA presented that
award to Canadian Geographic, essentially honouring Steve again.
Over the past two decades, Steve’s maps of every corner of
Canada and, in many cases, the world have made an immeasurable
contribution to the character of this magazine and to how we
perceive and understand our land. Steve’s work won’t disappear
from these pages; he intends to continue making maps for us, but
we’ll miss his daily presence, his wisdom and his sense of humour
in the CG office. Steve, my friend, many thanks.
— Eric Harris
top
|
|
|
