Rule by Fiat

To most, the vote at Ottawa City Council today with seem insignificant - but it is anything but.

The city built a new archives building in the west end this year and officially opened it in the summer.  The most interesting feature of the building was not what was there but rather what was not there.  There was no sign to indicate what the building was.  Why you may ask?  Good question.

When the building was being planned and built  a group of Ottawa, known as the Friends of the Archives (I am currently on their Board of Directors), put forward the name of the late William Pitman Lett, the first Ottawa city clerk and quite an historian.  Lett was passed over by the bureaucrats in favour of the late Charlotte Whitton, the feisty former Mayor of Ottawa (she was also the first female mayor in Canada).  The nomination was made by the mayor and many councilors but, as is typical of these times, some group got their knickers in a knot and objected to Charlotte.  So the building had no name.

In an obvious attempt at pandering to the special interests, the mayor went looking for another name.  What did he come up with?  James Bartleman.  Who?  All Ottawans remember Bartelman.  He was born in Orillia, raised in Muskoka, went to school in London and became Lieutenant-Governor in Toronto.  This mixed with his world travel as a Canadian diplomat.  He is currently the Chancellor of OCAD in Toronto (and probably a Leafs fan).  So who better to name a building after but a guy with very tenuous ties to the city.  Much better than a former mayor, the first city clerk or any number of former regional politicians, such as Claude Aubry, etc.

So what's next? 

Will we name the proposed library building after Arnold Schwarzenegger?  After all, he visited here once and dropped a puck (on purpose) at a Sens game.