BUS TOURS

Moses-Saunders Dam Tour, Cornwall, ON

Leader: Dan Macfarlane                                                         

Cost includes bus and lunch ($50) 

Up to 30 participants. 

Destination: Moses-Saunders Dam Visitor Centre, Cornwall ON

This tour will visit the Canadian side of the Moses-Saunders powerhouse, which was built bilaterally in the 1950s by New York and Ontario as part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project. It was one of the largest hydroelectric dams in the world when it was completed and was the largest transborder hydro dam for several decades. If time and weather permits, we will also explore the "lost villages" area flooded out by this megaproject. Dr. Daniel Macfarlane, from Western Michigan University and author of Negotiating a River: Canada, the US, and the Creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway, will lead the tour.

Noon - 6:00 pm

Diefenbunker Tour, Carp, ON

Leader: Andrew Burtch

Cost includes bus, lunch, and admission ($65)

Up to 40 participants. 

Destination: Diefenbunker, Carp ON

The Diefenbunker is a Cold War government bunker located in Carp, a village located 37 kilometres west of Ottawa. Completed in 1961, this underground bunker was designed to protect Canada’s governmental leaders in the event of a Russian nuclear attack on North America. It is now a popular museum with creative programming. Participants will tour the bunker and meet Cold War historian Andrew Burtch, author of Give Me Shelter: The Failure of Canada's Cold War Civil Defence, who will provide context and insights into the bunker’s history and Canada’s response to the Cold War. Bagged lunch, bus transportation, and included.

https://diefenbunker.ca/en/

12:30 - 4:30 pm

Archaeological Sites in the National Capital Region 
Leader: Ian Badgeley

Cost includes bus, lunch, and admission ($50)

This bus tour will visit important archaeological sites in Ottawa and the National Capital Region (NCC). Ottawa’s archaeology is understudied, but the material evidence points to long occupation by the region’s Indigenous peoples, as well as far-reaching exchanges with other areas in North America. This tour will be led by Ian Badgley, NCC archaeologist, who has in-depth experience and knowledge of these ancient sites and the people who lived on them.

Noon - 3:30 pm

March Birding around National Capital Region

Leader: Michael Runtz

Cost includes bus and lunch ($50)

March in Ottawa is a time of transition. The spring migration of songbirds is close, while waterfowl and raptor migrations are already underway. Michael Runtz, a Carleton University professor and renowned naturalist, will lead this tour to various locations around Ottawa, including the shores of the Ottawa River, to search out early migrants, over-wintering birds, and whatever  avian surprises the weather and circumstances have delivered. Bring all-weather gear for this tour.Bagged lunch and bus transportation included.

Noon - 4:00 pm

Museum collections tour

Cost includes bus and lunch ($45)  

This tour will give participants a behind-the-scenes look into two world-class national museum collections: the tour will begin with the Nature Museum’s collection facility in nearby Aylmer, Quebec and end at the Ingenium Centre, a new collection, conservation, and administration building that serves the three national museums in the Ingenium consortium (Science and Technology, Agriculture and Food, and Aviation and Space). Curators from each facility will lead the tours, giving glimpses into rich collections of natural history, science, technology, and agriculture. At the end of the Ingenium tour, participants will have access to the Canada Science and Technology Museum , which is located beside the Ingenium Centre. Bagged lunch and bus transportation included.

Noon - 4:30 pm

WALKING TOURS

Central Experimental Farm [FULL/NO SPACES LEFT]

Leader: Pete Anderson

Free, lunch and train fare not included

[FULL/NO SPACES LEFT]

Destination: Central Experimental Farm (O Train to Baysview, transfer to Carling)

Take the train to Central Experimental Farm (O Train to Baysview, transfer to Carling).This walking tour will take participants through the landscape of the Central Experimental Farm (CEF), established in 1886 to support agriculture in Canada through scientific research. The CEF, a National Historic Site, comprises several sites including the National Arboretum, Fletcher Wildlife Garden, ornamental gardens, and a variety of heritage buildings that reflect the CEF’s past and contemporary roles. There will also be a stop at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum. After the tour, participants can explore pub and dinner options on nearby Preston Street. Tour leader Peter Anderson wrote his dissertation on the CEF and has advocated for its continued protection as a research site and green space.

Noon - 3:30 pm

LeBreton Flats/Pimisi [FULL/NO SPACES LEFT]

Leaders: Randy Boswell and Jean-Luc Pilon

Free, lunch not included

FULL/NO SPACES LEFT

This tour will explore a historic area that encompasses the Ottawa River’s Chaudière Falls and Islands, and LeBreton Flats. The falls and the surrounding area hold special significance for the local Anishnabe-Algonquin as well as others who travelled through the region. Known as Akikodjiwan, the waterfall is a critical component of a distinctive cultural landscape that has existed here for millenia. Through the 19^th century and into the 20^th, this area became industrialized and was the epicentre of eastern Canada’s lumbering industry. Today, the site has industrial and post-industrial features: hydro-electric power generation co-exists with a national museum and Holocaust memorial, and two controversial residential/commercial developments. Randy Boswell, a Carleton University journalism professor who writes about Ottawa’s environmental history, and Jean-Luc Pilon, a retired archaeologist from the Canadian Museum of History, will lead the tour. The two have collaborated on important investigations of this site and can speak to the area’s complex and long history. Free, lunch not included.

Noon - 3:30 pm

Indigenous Walks—Parliament Hill [FULL/NO SPACES LEFT]

Leader: Jaime Morse

[FULL/NO SPACES LEFT]

Cost includes group rate and lunch ($40)

This tour will provide insights from an Indigenous perspective into some of the marked and unmarked Indigenous sites in downtown Ottawa, including historic sites, murals, and other points of interest. This two-part tour will begin on Elgin Street and end in the Byward Market, which participants can explore on their own after the tour. This tour includes a break for bannock and cedar tea. Tour leader Jaime Morse is an Indigenous woman who runs this program throughout Ottawa. Tour group rate included.

Noon - 3:15pm