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The Parliament Building of Quebec (, ) is an eight-floor structure and is home to the
National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...
(), in
Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...
, Quebec, Canada. The Parliament Building was designed by architect Eugène-Étienne Taché in a
Second Empire style Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly Eclecticism in architecture, eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts originating in the Second French Empire. It was characterized by elements of many differe ...
and built between 1877 and 1886, in the heart of Quebec's
Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...
. The National Assembly (or, as it was called until 1968, the Legislative Assembly) first met there on March 27, 1884, even though the building was only fully completed two years later, on April 8, 1886. From the 1910s to the 1930s, the government built several adjacent buildings to expand its office spaces, creating a parliamentary complex, of which the Parliament Building is the main edifice. This structure is a successor of several earlier buildings, the earliest of which was built in 1620 and among which there were two other parliament houses that served as legislatures. Geographically, the building is in the , in the district of Vieux-Québec–Cap-Blanc–colline Parlementaire, part of the borough of La Cité-Limoilou, just outside the walls of Old Quebec. However, the Parliament Building, along with several adjacent buildings and terrain, have been declared a ''national historic site'' (), and as such taken away from the control of the provincial Ministry of Culture and Communications and municipalities. This designation notwithstanding, the province of Quebec is signatory to a long-term leasing deal (called emphyteusis) when it comes to the territory in front of the Parliament Building, that is, from the front entrance to the fortifications of the old town, as this parcel has belonged to the federal government since 1881.


History


Precursors


Fort and château Saint-Louis

In 1620,
Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...
was ordered to stop further exploration of
New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...
, of which he was
lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
, and instead was asked to engage solely in administration of the newly discovered lands. He therefore ordered the construction of a fort on Cap Diamant, the easternmost extremity of the Promontory of Quebec. Even as the short-lived governments of the and of the were substituted for a more stable Company of One Hundred Associates in 1627, it was not until 1648 that the one-storey Château St. Louis, built by Governor Charles de Montmagny, became the first permanent official residence of the government of New France. However, by late 1680s, the construction was in a very poor state. A bigger residence on the foundations of the old one was built in 1694 by Governor Frontenac, and was finished thirty years later. The château was damaged during the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
, but after some repairs, still remained a residence for government structures of the British administration, until Château Haldimand was built. A large fire destroyed the 1694 building in 1834. The site is today covered by the Terrasse Dufferin, in front of the Château Frontenac.


Château Haldimand

In 1784, the governor of the Province of Quebec, Frederick Haldimand, ordered the construction of a new building, which was completed three years later. It was a residence of the colonial government from 1786 to 1791, and then of the governors only, until 1811. The Château Clique, which had an outsized influence over Quebec's governance, met there regularly with the governor. Château Haldimand was demolished in 1892 to make way for the construction of the Château Frontenac.


Old Parliament Building

The Old Parliament Building was built in 1693-1695 by the bishop of the diocese of Quebec, Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrières de Saint-Vallier, as the seat for the bishopry, and is also therefore known as the Episcopal Palace of Quebec. However, its purpose was changed in 1777, when the government of the province of Quebec started renting the building from the Catholic Church. The Legislative Council, which was a largely advisory body, was seated there. Following the division of the old Province of Quebec into
Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...
and
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...
by the
Constitutional Act 1791 The Constitutional Act 1791 (31 Geo. 3. c. 31) () was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of Great Britain which was passed during the reign of George III. The act divided the old Province of Quebec (1763–1791), Pro ...
, Quebec stayed as the capital of Lower Canada. It was at that time that the Canadas first received Westminster-style parliaments. In Lower Canada, the building that hosted the parliament, consisting of the Legislative Assembly and the
Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
, lower and upper houses respectively, was that building. It also hosted the office of the governor. The first sitting of parliament, after some reconstruction works, took place on December 17, 1792. The government attempted to gain ownership of the property from the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. After several unsuccessful attempts of negotiation with the archbishop, Bernard-Claude Panet, he eventually agreed to transfer the ownership rights in 1831 thus the building became colonial property in August 1832. It was subsequently rebuilt for the expansion of the government offices. After the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–1838, the parliament was suspended, and the governor-appointed Special Council sat in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
. The Episcopal Palace was then briefly seat of the
Parliament of the Province of Canada The Parliament of the Province of Canada was the legislature for the Province of Canada, made up of the two regions of Canada West (formerly Upper Canada, later Ontario) and Canada East (formerly Lower Canada, later Quebec). Creation of the Parl ...
in 1852–1854, but it was fully destroyed in a fire on February 1, 1854. Other victims were the museum of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec and half of the collection of the parliamentary library. The area that used to be the Episcopal Palace is now part of the Parc Montmorency.


Post office

With the Old Parliament Building destroyed, the legislature was left with no building to operate in. They quickly accepted the offer of the
Sisters of Charity Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition alone, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (whose sisters are also of ...
to rent their convent as a temporary seat of parliament, but on May 3, 1854, during works on repurposing the building, another fire ruined the new wing of the house they intended to use as a meeting place for the legislature. They afterwards rented a courthouse and a music hall as an emergency solution, until in 1858, the city acquired the land with the ruins of the Old Parliament Building (it later became the ). The proceeds were then used to construct a small building first intended as a post office, but then it was decided to move the legislature and the government in that place. The Canadian legislature presided in the office from 1860 to 1865, and, after
Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
, the provincial parliament occupied the building from 1867 to 1883, when it succumbed to a fire.


Construction of the current building

The government sought a bigger place to operate, in one building, thus the government proposed to build a new site in 1869. For this purpose, it bought lands that were occupied by a
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
college and demolished it in 1872. It also bought a parcel of land from the federal government in July 1876 for that purpose, and it is on these two lots of land that the new building, which was to host the government (including ministries), the legislature and the lieutenant governor's office, was constructed. The design works were assigned to Eugène-Étienne Taché, an architect who was then working at the provincial ministry of public works. He chose to build a new seat for government and parliament in a building with a style harkening back to the
French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define ...
, instead of the British-style architecture in
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
. Due to budget constraints, however, the building's Second Empire architecture was toned down somewhat from what was popular in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
; it was nevertheless called a "construction of the century", with up to 400 workers employed to erect the seat of parliament. The building process itself was marred with problems. Simon-Xavier Cimon, the entrepreneur who won the contract to build the Parliament Building, was deeply unpopular. The workers, whose wages went down from 60¢ to 50¢ in 1878, went on strike, demanding they be paid twice the sum. With tensions escalating, the employment of strikebreakers failing and the then Premier of Quebec, Henri-Gustave Joly, attacked on the street, the demonstrations were suppressed by the military in June 1878. In total, three more strikes occurred by the time the whole complex was built. After making minor concessions, the construction continued, so that by 1880, three wings of the building were completed. The legislature still met in the post office building. The second stage was started in 1883, after the parliament lost its operating space due to a fire, so they temporarily moved to the then-existing rooms of the Parliament Building, displacing some government offices. Members of the Legislature started their first legislative session in the new building on March 27, 1884. The builders also faced other problems in October 1884, a bombing damaged the construction site, and the government also experienced significant cost overruns. Despite that, the main construction was finished in time for the parliamentary session that started on April 8, 1886.


Following inauguration

After its opening, most of the works concerned the decorations of the building and around it. In 1888, a clock at the top of the tower was installed. Two years later, a fountain in front of the entrance, dedicated to the
Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...
, was inaugurated. Four years after that, statues of various political and intellectual figures of importance to Quebec were mounted in niches in the walls of the building. The building initially hosted all major executive and legislative offices of the province of Quebec as well as the parliamentary library. However, by the turn of the century, the government decided to expand their working spaces and moved some of their offices to adjacent structures. The first was Édifice Pamphile-Le May, which was added in 1910–1915 to host the . It was also at that time that a parliamentary restaurant, , was opened in the courtyard (renamed in 1970). A decade later, the Édifice Honoré-Mercier was built to house several ministries, including the office of
premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...
, which was in the building from its construction until 1972 and from 2002 on. Édifice Jean-Antoine-Panet and Édifice André-Laurendeau were erected in the 1930s, for the Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Agriculture, respectively. The latter building is now the main office of the lieutenant-governor. In 1985, the Parliament Building, along with several adjacent buildings and terrain, were declared a national historic site (), and as such taken away from the control of the provincial Ministry of Culture and Communications, and municipalities, to ensure operational independence. This was reaffirmed during changes to the law in 2011, though the term was changed to ''national heritage site'' (). In 2016-2019 a new entrance with enhanced security and additional space for parliamentary committees were built for $60.5 million.


Exterior


Overview

The eight-storey Parliament building is symmetrical and is composed of three parts. There are two side wings each with a small tower, one dedicated to Samuel de Champlain, explorer and founder of Quebec City, and the other to Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, founder of Montreal; and a 52-metre-tower placed between these two wings, which, in its turn, is named after
Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier (; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French maritime explorer from Brittany. Jacques Cartier was the first Europeans, European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, wh ...
, who made first contact between the French and what is now Canada. The concept of decorations as thought by Eugène-Étienne Taché was to show an open history of Quebec on the wall of parliament, including statues and the heraldry. Until 2019, the main entrance was the original one, which could be accessed through either staircase going around greenery and a fountain with the statues of
indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
; since then, however, the parliament is mainly accessible through a modernized space going through underground passages to the parliament, and the greenery was removed.


Statues

The front wall of the parliament building houses a total of 26 statues, which were ordered in 1886 and delivered in 1894 from Louis-Philippe Hébert and eight other sculptors, all from Paris. Two of the statues represent allegorical themes (''Religion and Country'' and ''History and Poetry'') and are on either side of the tower; another two represent the indigenous people of Quebec (in this case, the Abenaki), while the rest honour important people in the history of Quebec. Most of them are in the niches in the Parliament Building's outer wall. Samuel de Champlain's statue, as well as the ''History and Poetry'' allegorical statues are not shown here. File:Sculptures_de_Louis-Philippe_Hébert.jpg, ''The Nigog Fisherman'' File:Sculpture La halte dans la forêt, Assemblée nationale du Québec, Quebec ville.jpg, ''A Halt in the Forest'' File:Robert Baldwin Quebec.JPG, Robert Baldwin File:Pierre Boucher 01.jpg, Pierre Boucher File:Parlement quebec monuments.JPG, Jean de Brébeuf and Nicolas Viel File:Guy Carleton Lord Dorchester 03.jpg, Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester File:James Bruce Lord Elgin.JPG, James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin File:Louis de Buade de Frontenac 02.jpg,
Louis de Buade de Frontenac Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS Louis, HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy Se ...
File:Pierre le Moyne sieur d Iberville.JPG, Pierre Le Moyne Sieur d'Iberville File:Louis Jolliet.JPG,
Louis Jolliet Louis Jolliet (; September 21, 1645after May 1700) was a French-Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America. In 1673, Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit Catholic priest and missionary, were the first non-Natives to explore ...
File:Francois-Gaston Duc de Levis.JPG, François Gaston de Lévis File:Parlement du Québec, 850, Grande Allée Est, Québec façade, aile droite, partie gauche, étage supérieur 11-d.na.civile-72-8348.jpg, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve (below) and the allegorical statues of Religion and Country (above) File:Monuments at the Parliament Building of Quebec 03.jpg, Marie of the Incarnation (left) and Marguerite Bourgeoys (right) File:Jacques Marquette.jpg,
Jacques Marquette Jacques Marquette, Society of Jesus, S.J. (; June 1, 1637 – May 18, 1675), sometimes known as Père Marquette or James Marquette, was a French Society of Jesus, Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. M ...
File:Assemblée nationale du Québec - Wolfe et Montcalm.jpg, James Wolfe (left) and Marquis de Montcalm (right) File:Francois de Montmorency Laval.jpg, François de Montmorency File:Jean-Jacques Olier 02.jpg, Jean-Jacques Olier File:Charles-Michel de Salaberry.JPG, Charles-Michel de Salaberry File:Jean Talon 01.JPG, Jean Talon File:Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Verendrye.JPG, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye
In addition to that, several monuments to famous politicians are scattered on the front lawn of the parliament. File:Assemblée nationale - Statue Robert Bourassa1.jpg, Robert Bourassa File:Maurice Duplessis Quebec.JPG, Maurice Duplessis File:Monument_Francois-Xavier-Garneau_04.JPG, François-Xavier Garneau File:Adelard Godbout Quebec.JPG, Adelard Godbout File:Assemblée nationale - Statue René Lévesque2.jpg,
René Lévesque René Lévesque ( ; August 24, 1922 â€“ November 1, 1987) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to seek, ...
File:Honore Mercier Quebec.JPG, Honoré Mercier File:Monument Gandhi Quebec 01.jpg,
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
File:Monument en hommage aux femmes en politique 03.jpg, Monument in honour of women in politics


Heraldry

The Parliament Building has a total of 97 coats of arms, of which 87 are identified.
Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...
's and
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
's coat of arms appear over the statues of their founders. Several heraldic signs of the first lieutenant-governors of Quebec, as well as the names of prominent families of Quebec can also be seen on the front wall. The 1868 version of Quebec's coat of arms is above the old entrance to the building. In 1883, Taché carved the phrase below it, which is considered the first time the phrase was used as a motto. It became the official provincial motto in 1939, and is now used on standard vehicle registration plates of Quebec.


Fountains

The Parliament Building vicinity has two fountains the Fountain of the Abenaki () and the (). The former is located below the old main entrance to the building, along with two statues of the indigenous people, with ''The Nigog Fisherman'' being in the niche just above the water and the other statue above the fountain, in the place where two staircases meet. Built in 1890, it underwent a significant change from 2016 to 2019, when it was greatly reduced in size. The Fountain of Tourny is a relatively recent addition. Located on the roundabout on Honoré-Mercier Avenue, part of , it was first cast in 1853–1854. Two copies were displayed in
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
since 1858 and until 1960, when it was dismantled to construct an underground parking lot and due to rising costs of maintaining the fountain. One of them was acquired by a nearby Saint-Germain-de-la-Rivière municipality, while the other, after having been disassembled and cut in pieces, eventually went to an antique shop in
Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine (; literally "Audoin (bishop), St. Audoin on Seine") is a Communes of France, commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France, located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. It is part of the Seine-Saint-Denis Department ...
, a Parisian suburb. In early 2000s, an entrepreneur in Quebec, Peter Simons, decided to renovate the figures, and donated the fountain to the city of Quebec. It was inaugurated on July 3, 2007, a year before the quadricentennial celebrations of founding of the city. File:Fountain in front of Parlement.jpg, Fountain of the Abenaki in 2009, before renovations File:Fontaine de Tourny, Quebec 02.jpg, Fountain of Tourny in 2018. Note the construction works in the background.


Interior


Parliamentary debate rooms

When the Quebec Legislature moved to the new building, there were two chambers: the Legislative Assembly, which sat in a room that is now commonly known as (Blue Room), and the
Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
in the (Red Room). The former was originally white, but it was recolored twice: first in 1901, when it was repainted green, the traditional colour of the elected chamber of Westminster-style legislatures, and then in 1978 to blue, to facilitate the broadcast of debates on television. The Blue Room is the place where the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
conducts its regular sessions. It has 124 desks for the same number of members, separated by a corridor that leads from the main doors to the clerk's table, and further to the chair of the president of the National Assembly, whose seat is elevated on a pedestal. A painting by Charles Huot, , hangs behind the President's seat. A similar-looking Red Room used to be the place where the upper chamber presided, until it was abolished in 1968. It is now used for the works of parliamentary committees and for solemn occasions, such as administering oaths of office. Unlike the Blue Room, however, the Red Room's furniture may be rearranged depending on the parliament's needs. The painting opposite the entrance to the room is Charles Huot's , which depicts a debate of the colonial government of New France. Renovations of the Blue Room are planned to start in fall 2024. The National Assembly decided to ditch the traditional Westminster layout of government facing the opposition in favour of a horseshoe outline of seats, similar to the arrangement used in the
Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...
. Until the renovation is finished in 2026, the MNAs will sit in the Red Room.


Flag Room

The Flag Room used to serve various purposes: it was used a press conference room (also called ''hot room'') and also served as a museum. From 1985, it has displayed eight flags that inspired the current design of the
flag of Quebec The flag of Quebec (), called the in Quebec French, French, represents the Canadian province of Quebec. It consists of a white cross on a blue background, with four white fleur-de-lis, fleurs-de-lis. It was the first provincial flag officially ...
, or the These flags include three from the
Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...
, two naval
ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...
s, two Carillon flags and the current one. Flag of France (XII-XIII).svg, Banner of the Kingdom of France Bannière de France style 1700.svg, Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of France Pavillon LouisXIV.svg, Royal Standard of
Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
Drapeau de Saint-Malo (18è siècle, pavillon amirauté).svg, Ensign of the admiralty of Saint-Malo Pavillon de la France (17è siècle).svg, Ensign of the French royal trade navy, 17th century Banniere de Carillon (version de l'Assemblée nationale).svg, Carillon flag Drapeau du Québec 1948.svg, Carillon flag, modern version Flag of Quebec.svg,


''Hot room''

The press conference room (officially called and commonly referred to as "hot room", both in English and in French) is in the north side of the building. It was originally named so due to the heat that the cameras were emitting, but the name is sometimes interpreted as a reference to the heated atmosphere caused by numerous questions of journalists. Until 1976, it served as a bar. The "hot room" moved to its current location in mid-1980s.


restaurant

The restaurant was not built when the building was inaugurated, but during an expansion in 1910s, from Montreal and Georges-Émile Tanguay from
Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...
proposed a new space for a canteen for members of parliament in a Beaux-Arts style, which was popular at the time. It was built in 1912-1917 and has continued to serve the same purpose since then. The restaurant was originally called (Parliament Café), but was renamed in 1970. The restaurant was initially open only to members of parliament, but it opened to the general public in 1968. In 2020, the facility closed for renovation. It notably hosted election campaign debates for the
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
and 2008 Quebec general elections.


2016-2019 extension

In October 2014, a shooting at Parliament Hill occurred in Ottawa, which raised concerns about the security of the Parliament Building in Quebec. Accordingly, in November 2015, Jacques Chagnon, president of the National Assembly, unveiled a $60.5 million project that envisaged the construction of an underground entrance with enhanced security features, as well as a new conference room and space for parliamentary committees. After three years of work, the new entrance was inaugurated in May 2019 and opened to the public on June 1 that year. The expansion was generally received positively. The , a provincial trade organization, gave an award to the planners of the expansion, lauding the preservation of architectural values in the building and increased accessibility; Olivier Vallerand, a professor of architecture at
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
, similarly approved of the design. On the other hand, the expansion came at a cost of reducing the area occupied by the Abenaki fountain, a change some, including Gaston Deschênes, a historian who wrote a monograph on the Parliament Building, criticized as violating the will of the original architect.


Notable mentions

The Parliament Building was mentioned on one-dollar tokens issued for the Quebec Winter Carnival in 1984.


See also

* Bonsecours Market, built in 1849 *
Philadelphia City Hall Philadelphia City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of the City of Philadelphia in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Built in the ornate Second Empire style, City Hall houses the chambers of the Philadelphia City Council and the office ...
, completed 1901 in a similar style *
National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...


Notes


References


Further reading

* (2007). ''The Québec Parliament Building: A Monument to History'', Saint-Lambert: Stromboli, 263 p.  ranslation, Benjamin Waterhouse* (1996). , Sainte-Foy : Publications du Québec, 204 p.  (in French) * Potvin, Damase (1942)

Québec : Les Éditions de Tour de la Pierre, 353 p. (in French) *Henri Têtu (1896). Québec : Pruneau & Kirouac, 229 p. (in French) {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Quebec City Legislative buildings in Canada Tourist attractions in Quebec City Second Empire architecture in Canada Quebec Legislature Quebec government buildings