The Centre Block is often referred to as a symbol of
Canadian democracy and certainly the Peace Tower is
recognized throughout Canada as a symbol in own right.
Like a finely crafted piece of jewelry the building and
Tower abound with objects, paintings, sculpture and
other objects that each reflects an element of our long
history as the focal point of parliamentary democracy in
Canada. Similar to a good story, the tone is set at the
very beginning.
The main entrance of the Centre Block is imposing
structure, comprised of the arched base of the Peace
Tower followed by the pair of bronze double doors. A
visitor approaching from Wellington Street walks along
the broad ceremonial walkway and then must climb some
twenty steps to arrive at the top of the Vaux Terrace,
or the Drive, immediately in front of the building.
Ahead is the main entrance and 10 more steps leading to
the graceful arch made of Wallace sandstone from Nova
Scotia and the Peace Tower soaring a little over 92
meters overhead. The whole experience of walking towards
the entrance is simply uplifting, and quite fitting for
the ceremonial entrance to Canada’s Parliament Building.
John Andrew Pearson, architect of the Peace Tower,
supervised the installation of an extensive sculpture
program on the Tower prior to its inauguration on July
1, 1927. However, the arched entranceways were not
completed by that date. As in so many other areas, John
Pearson demonstrated his vision by installing
substantial blocks of uncarved stone around the arches
to allow for future carving. It would take another
decade before work would begin on the main entrance.
The carvings surrounding the ceremonial entrance to the
Centre Block are magnificent pieces of sculpture
designed by the first Dominion Sculptor, Cleophas Soucy,
and his assistant, Coeur de Lion McCarthy under the
direction of Alan Keefer, a noted architect for the
Department of Public Works. The intricate designs around
the door were carved between 1937and 1938 by a team of
six carvers, along with Soucy and McCarthy. The work
garnered much attention from the media when it began in
the summer of 1937. The entrance has a distinctive
gothic character in keeping with the building. Heraldic
devices, mythical beasts, animals, and floral motifs
abound. While the themes may fit within a traditional
gothic program, it is the subject of the carvings that
gives the main entrance its distinctively Canadian
flavor, as the Dominion Sculptor stated at the time.
The archway is flanked by on either side by a 1.8 meter
high beast shown standing erect; a unicorn is the east
side and a lion on the west. Known as “supporters” in
heraldry, these two beasts are found on the Arms of
Canada as well as the United Kingdom. The Lion carries a
Union flag and supports the Royal Arms, while the
unicorn carries the Royal flag of France and supports
the Arms of Canada. These two guardians anchor the
archway with its own two distinctive bands of carving
featuring far more distinctive Canadian symbols.
The inner narrow band of carving, or frieze, depicts
various birds, trees and flowers of Canada, a theme
found throughout the entry. The outer band of relief
carving is comprised of the provincial coats of arms.
The Coat of arms of Quebec and Ontario flank each other
at the tops of the arch and are surmounted by a royal
crown. All of the provincial arms are shown on a
background of maple leaves, pinecones and other Canadian
flora. Originally only nine shields were carved and the
tenth was left blank – a very wise decision by the
sculptor. In 1949 room was available for the addition of
Canada’s newest province to the grand entrance.
Any doubt in the Canadian character of the entrance will
soon be dispelled when one looks up from the ground to
the apex of the entry to the Centre Block. It is a study
in contrasts, as sitting high above the heraldic devices
and mythical unicorn and stately lion is a single beaver
supporting a shield. The design on the shield is
different than most in that it carries images of five
flowers representing the European cultures that played a
prominent role in early Canada. A Tudor rose represents
the English, a Fleur de lis represents the French, a
thistle the Scots, a shamrock the Irish, and a leek
represents the Welsh.
Ironically, amidst all of these mythical creatures and
symbols, the beaver actually created quite a commotion
when the original design was initially reported in the
newspapers of the day. What is most interesting about
the uproar was not the selection of the iconic beaver,
but how the beaver was to be represented. Cleophas
Soucy’s original design was of a more symbolic nature in
that it was to depict a mother beaver surrounded by nine
young beaver kits, each baby beaver representing the
nine provinces and Canada itself. This was certainly a
creative design to fit into the existing symbolism found
on the Hill and in the building. A number of newspaper
articles reported on the design in January 1938 and even
depicted photographs of the plaster design that Soucy
had prepared for his carvers.
However, the news reports created
something of a bureaucratic uproar. In February of 1938
Chalotte Whitton, then Executive Director of the
Canadian Welfare Council and later Ottawa’s first female
mayor, wrote a personal letter to the Prime Minister’s
Executive Secretary, Edward Pickering, to prevent what
she termed “ a wrong against our national animal, the
beaver, as to have this stone work represent a beaver
with nine kittens.” It would appear that Ms. Whitton had
been informed by various sources that beavers typically
produce litters of two or three kittens, not the nine
depicted; to continue with the proposed design would be
”a violence to fact.”
Ms. Whitton’s request resulted in
considerably more internal memoranda. Mr. Pickering
contacted the Deputy Minister of Public Works on the
matter who, in turn, raised the matter with Public
Work’s Chief Architect. It would appear from the
correspondence that followed that Public Works made
additional inquiries with a specialist at the Victoria
Museum, today’s Museum of Nature, to determine if a
female beaver could produce a litter of nine kits or
not. According to their findings Ms. Whitton’s facts
were not entirely correct; while nine kits were in the
realm of possibility, it could not be confirmed to any
degree of certainty. Consequently, at the beginning of
March 1938, the Prime Minister was briefed on the matter
and a proposal was put forward that the mother beaver
with kits would be replaced by a single beaver, alone.
History notes his decision. By
September 1938 new models depicting a single beaver were
produced for approval. Two designs were submitted, one
produced by McCarthy and the other by Soucy. On
September 12, 1938 Soucy’s design of a single beaver,
approximately a meter in height, supporting a shield had
been approved for carving. Work must have progressed
quickly as local papers reported the completion of the
sculpture on the building, along with the history of the
mother beaver, a month later. Standing high above the
entrance, seventy-five years later the beaver continues
to survey Parliament Hill, a distinctively Canadian
symbol greeting alike common citizens, monarchs,
presidents, and Prime Ministers, albeit alone.