On the Hill: A People's Guide to Canada's Parliament

Peter Martin is a senior projects editor at the University of Ottawa
Press.

Heather Robertson might better have subtitled this small delight “The
Pleasures of Parliament,” for she is transparently in love with the
place and its people, traditions, architecture, and ambience. Her book,
she says, “is a general reference, not an encyclopedia or textbook.”
It is, in fact, not so much a general reference as a somewhat quirky
alphabetized collection of short notes on matters parliamentary that
interest her.

She provides very good entries on topics constitutional (Fathers of
Confederation, Charter of Rights and Freedoms), procedural (Speaker,
Orders of the Day), and architectural (gargoyles, East Block,
Stornoway). But it’s the unexpected entries that make this “people
guide” such fun. Here are just a few: French Fries (“Ottawa’s
favourite food”); Poker (“has gone the way of the spittoon and
saloon. See also: ‘Scandal’”); or, the final entry, Zzzzzzzzzz
(“A sound sometimes heard in the chamber of the Commons or the Senate.
. . . See also: ‘Speech’”).

Well illustrated, informative, and very worthwhile, this book is a fine
antidote for the nausea-inducing antics we have witnessed on the Hill in
recent years.