‘Ottawa’ Capital Voices: ‘I Saw the Queen When She was Here’
In anticipation of Canada’s sesquicentennial celebrations, the Citizen’s Bruce Deachman has been out in search of Ottawans — 150 of them — to learn their stories of life and death, hope and love, obsession and fear. From Feb. 2 until Canada Day, we’ll share one person’s story every day.
“I’m quite excited that it’s Canada’s 150th next year. It’s very exciting. There will be so many events and we’ll be getting a lot of tourists, and I love people and I like to be out.
“I was married in 1967, in Vanier. That kept me busy. Ottawa was a lot smaller then. There were fewer people. I’d say safer and cleaner.
“It was amazing in 1967. I didn’t miss any of the big events. I saw the Queen when she was here.
“Expo was such a big event. Very exciting. My sister worked there. She worked for the Embassy of the Congo, and so I often went to Expo. She’d get me passes and then we’d go out for dinner. Montreal was just buzzing at that time. The restaurants, the people, it was so exciting. It’s a very, very memorable event for me. I probably went to Expo once every two weeks that year. That was the biggest thing for me. I was young then, too — 21 — and everything was exciting. Those were great times. I loved visiting all the pavilions; the structures were all so different, and they brought you to all their countries.”
— Irene Roberts. Elgin Street, Aug. 31, 2016.