Justice, & Deep Fried Mars Bars...
Today I went to the Supreme Court of Canada with some guide friends, and we took a tour of the inside of the building. It`s nice, but I prefer the Parliament buildings :)
We then went to Zak`s Diner for a deep fried Mars bar. You might be wondering what a deep fried Mars bar is, eh? Well, it`s a Mars bar wrapped in philo pastry, and then deep fried. At Zak`s they`re served with ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce. Yum, it was really good. The chocolate in the Mars bar was just perfect, and the coating around it was nice and crispy. I couldn`t eat one everyday, but they`re a great summer treat.
I`m heading off to a BBQ now in the Glebe, and I`m taking some potato salad that I made.

Vietnam PM, Scavenger Hunt...
Yesterday was an interesting day. In the morning the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Phan Van Khai, came to visit Parliament, and of course I was working outside under the Peace Tower. He was given a 21 gun salute in the afternoon but I was only working outside in the morning, when he first came to Parliament.
As the Vietnamese Prime Minister was leaving, I was able to talk briefly with Her Excellency, the Minister of Social Development of Mauritania. She was there for a meeting, but wasn`t sure where she was to meet her contact. So, her aide from the embassy called, while we talked about the flowers on Parliament Hill.
In the evening we had a scavenger hunt, with the guides, the Infotent people, and the people in the Capital Info Centre. There were about 5 teams that played, and mine came in 4th. We would`ve done better, except for the technicalities. For example, we were supposed to help a busker make a doller. Instead, we gave him a dollar. Oh well, it was a lot of fun anyway, and I got to know Ottawa a bit better.

Changing of the Guard...
Today was the first day of the Changing of the Guard (photo). As part of the first day`s ceremony the Governor General of Canada, Adrienne Clarkson, inspected the troops. Whenever the GG is on the Hill in an official capacity they fly her flag on the Peace Tower, which was quite interesting to see.
Later in the day I got to give a tour to human rights and social workers from all over the world (Bosnia, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Chile, Ghana, Philipines, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, etc.). It was an incredible group. They were very interested in the process of Parliament, and everything I could possibly tell them about the building. I felt quite humbled to be taking them through Canada`s Parliament, when some of them have lived through amazing situations in their home countries.

Below is a map of where tourists have come from that I have given tours to.
(courtesy of World66)

St-Jean Baptiste (aka the Québec National Holiday)...

Today, June 24th, is St. Jean Baptiste day in Québec, and much of the French-speaking world. It`s not an statutory (official) holiday in Canada, but it is in Québec. Because most Québécois have the day off, there`s a huge party the night before. The largest one is in Québec City, on the Plains of Abraham (proof that despite the French loss of Québec to the British, the French still sing and dance on the field). In Québec everyone celebrates St-Jean Baptiste day, while very few celebrate Canada Day (July 1st) as that`s the day when most people move.
So to celebrate St-Jean Baptiste, I went over to Gatineau (in Québec) and bought myself a poutine, while wandering around and checking out the other side of the river. There wasn`t much going on though, as I suspect most of the events will take place tonight. I know that La Bottine Souriante played last night in Aylmer (near Hull). That would`ve been a fun show to go to, if I had a car and had heard about it earlier.
Québec Quiz (you can answer in the comments section if you want...)
1) What year did Québec join Canadian Confederation?
2) What`s the official language of Québec?
3) Name 4 well known francophone Québecois musicians/groups?
4) Who`s the Premier of Québec, and which party does he represent?
5) Who was the Premier during the Grande Noirceur?
6) In what year did la Révolution Tranquille start?

Senate Visit...
I went to the Senate today to watch some of the debates, and to compare it to the House of Commons. It was actually a lot of fun, and in some ways more interesting than the HoC. They kept pounding on their desks, and one lady kept accusing another guy of calling her "small-minded". She demanded an appology, which he of course refused to give. Then they senator said, "if you check the record, I think you`ll find that I simply said that Newfoundlanders are not as small-minded as the senator that represents them..." It was pretty funny at the time, with the rest of the debating that was going on.

PMac & Les Amis Secrets...
I almost bumped into Peter MacKay (deputy leader of the Official Opposition) at work today, literally. I was going to the info-tent to pick up my group, and looking at the House of Commons entrance. When I turned around to look where I was going, he was two feet in front of me walking towards the HoC entrance.
We started doing an "Amis Secrets" (secret friends) at work today. So, I have the name of someone, and someone has my name. For the next week we`re supposed to be extra nice to the person, and give them little gifts without revealing our identity...
I gave mon amie secrète some cookies that I baked (they were good, don`t worry), and a map to help her get around Ottawa. Despite the fact that she`s lived here her whole life, she still gets lost sometimes, which is what the map was for. And the cookies were for a snack, as she wanders around.

The Longest Day...
Today was the longest day of the year, literally. Unfortunately it's cloudy now, so the sun is hidden. It`s all downhill from here...
Today we had another meeting with the Clerks of both chambers (the House of Commons, and the Senate) to ask them questions -either ones that we had, or ones that were asked of us while on tour. It was really interesting to get their view on certain issues, such as the prolongation of the sitting of the House.
Canada Day is coming up, so they`re building the large stage in front of the Parliament Buildings. Apparently they`re behind schedule, partly from the fact that the road on the Hill was just repaved.

Formation Continue, Part II... (it rhymes!)
Last night we had our second Sunday evening training session, where we learned more about the actors who will be enhancing the tours starting July 2nd. Basically, there will be a historical figure who will appear at some point along the tour, for many of the visits (during certain hours). We got to hear their monologues last night, and they were actually pretty good. It`ll be interesting to see how it all works together with our tour in another few weeks.

Four Too Many...
I`ve finally got a day off! In the past 6 days of work, I`ve had two split shifts, too many grade 8 school groups to count, and far too few public tours to count.
Yesterday alone I had FOUR grade 7/8 tours during a split shift (4 hours of work in the morning, four hours off, 3 hours of work in the evening). Needless to say I was about ready to kill myself. My voice is shot now as well.
In the evening I went to La Maison Acadienne with some of the other guides for a few (much needed) drinks and to listen to the brother of one of the guides who was performing. They played some traditional Québécois and Acadian music, as well as some more modern songs. It was a lot of fun.
One of the grade 8 tours yesterday was cool though. The kids were from PEI, and their MP took them into the anti-chamber of the House while it was in session, which doesn`t normally happen. Then, on the Senate side, one of the pages who had attended their high school, and who`s aunt teaches there, got permission from the Usher of the Black Rod to let the 108 students sit in the seats in the Senate. The Usher of the Black Rod then gave the kids a motivational speech, which was a bit long-winded, but very motivating at the same time.
At least there`s only another week or so of school left before the summer holidays. Or maybe not...

Formal Evaluation...
I had my first formal evaluation on Tuesday. Basically my team leader, and supervisor, followed me around on one of my tours taking notes on everything that I said and did. At the end of it we talked about the tour, and what he thought of it -things I did well, and things I can improve on. I wasn`t surprised by anything he said. By the end of the tour you know what you should have mentioned (and forgot or didn`t have enough time to cover), and if there was a logistical problem, or whatever.
Yesterday I got the formal report on how my tour went, and I was overall "good". As far as I know, everyone gets a "good/bon" on their first tour following. However, I did have a few sections of the tour that got an "outstanding"! For example, my logistics, non-verbal communication, and professionalism were all outstanding.

Formation Continue...
We had another training session and test last night. The test wasn`t too hard -probably the easiest one I`ve had to date (and I got 94% on the last one). It`s just to make sure that we`re giving out the correct info.
We also learned a bit about the two new rooms that will be on tour over the summer -the Reading Room, and the Salon de la Francophonie. They`re both beautiful, so it`ll be nice to add them to the route on July 2nd.
The House was sitting today, even though the session would normally have ended for the summer on Friday. They are supposed to be taking a vote this evening to extend this week`s sessions until 11:30 every day, so that they can finish up Parliamentary business this week for the summer. There`s two important budget votes coming up this week too. It should be interesting, as always :)