OTTAWA—A group of 22 students from Whitefish River First Nation’s Shawanosowe School toured the sights and sounds of the nation’s capital recently, including a tour of the Parliament buildings with Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Carol Hughes.
“They were a pretty busy bunch,” laughed the MP. “I gave them a tour of parliament and they got to meet Charlie Angus (MP for Timmins-James Bay and NDP critic for ethics).”
The students arrived in Ottawa around 9 pm on Sunday, June 15 and settled into their hotel rooms for a good night’s sleep to ready up for their whirlwind schedule over the next three days.
Monday started off with a tour of the National History of Civilization Museum, which provides free admission for students with a status card.
Following lunch at the museum, the students headed over to the parliament buildings for a tour of the seat of Canada’s government.
Following the tour, the students, parents and teachers headed out for a walk about through Byward Market and a visit to the National Art Gallery. The day was topped off with a fun-filled evening at Ottawa’s premier family entertainment centre, Funhaven. There the students got the opportunity to play laser tag, race through the laser maze, launch foam balls from air cannons in a shoes-off environment, do a little rock wall climbing, crash about in bumper cars and try out one of the most advanced simulation video game ride facilities in North America. The evening of fun was fueled by a dinner of fresh baked pizza, popcorn, kettle chips, pogos and washed down with an assortment of thirst quenching beverages.
Day two was an educational trip to the Science and Technology Museum, lunch at East Side Mario’s before stopping in at the Calypso Water Park and a good night’s sleep before heading home.
