A Century to Celebrate, 1893-1993: The Ontario Legislative Building

Gwynneth C.D. Jones is a policy advisor at the Ontario Native Affairs
Secretariat.

This picture book, which focuses on the life and times of the Ontario
Legislative Building and its predecessors, is a mixed success. The
illustrations are fascinating. They cover all periods discussed in the
book, and include contemporary sketches and photographs, architects’
drawings, and depictions of people and events associated with the
buildings.

The bilingual text, however, tells disappointingly little about the
purported subject. Largely a thumbnail political history of Ontario, it
provides no information on the construction of the buildings, and tells
very little about how they were occupied or about the forces that drove
their steady expansion. Although Hall refers generally to the steady
growth of government over the 100-year period, we do not learn what
government was doing or how changing government roles and expectations
were reflected in the configuration of the buildings.

The author does not quite succeed with the anecdotal/social approach
either. He has unearthed some good stories, but says nothing about the
ghost reputed to inhabit the upper stories of the Legislative Assembly
building, or about the abandoned offices in Whitney Block tower, now
closed because of fire hazard. The text is a little too heavy for a
tourist’s guide, but not analytical enough to satisfy a student of
architecture, politics, or government.

Hall’s stated objective for the book was to “understand something
of the jurisdiction we call Ontario.” While he offers the reader some
useful facts, more focus on the buildings themselves might have reaped
greater insights into the cultural, social, and political history of
Ontario.