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“We are a great country, and shall become one of the greatest in the universe if we preserve it. We shall sink into insignificance and adversity if we suffer it to be broken.”
— Sir John A. Macdonald
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“Let them look to the past, but let them also look to the future; let them look to the land of their ancestors, but let them look also to the land of their children.”
— Sir Wilfrid Laurier
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“I am a Canadian, a free Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.”
— John Diefenbaker
Prime Ministers Row will offer the literal and figurative meeting point between those who shaped Canada’s first 150 years and those who will shape Canada’s next 150 years.
This initiative will leverage the unique and extraordinary built heritage assets located along Ottawa’s Laurier Avenue East – historically home to multiple Prime Ministers and Fathers of Confederation – in order to create Canada’s first street museum in the heart of the Nation’s Capital. This will be an innovative, participation-oriented, multi-block, multi-media, outdoor cultural space designed to encourage reflection on questions of governance, identity, culture, values and history.
Through a curated series of programs and events, as well as conferences, debates, speaker series and public art, we plan to engage Canadians from across the country and from all walks of life, bringing them together both physically and virtually.
In essence, an area once home to Canada’s political leaders will now become a space for every Canadian to discuss, debate and shape Canada’s public policy.