Rip offs and Kudos

Thanksgiving weekend…. Hummm….. turkey and yard work. That about sums up life in Canada this wonderful holiday. If you are one of the fortunate not to being doing the later, congrats.

I was at a wedding yesterday with my husband, the happy occasion for a couple who everyone would say, ‘was long overdue’. Though we share friends, like household chores (yeah right) this couple came from my husband’s younger days. It was a stunning wedding with the ceremony held at the Rockciffe Pavilion, in Ottawa, Ontario. For those not from the area, it is a beautiful spot over looking the Ottawa River, now owned and maintained by the National Capital Commission.

The reception was held at the Crown Plaza Hotel, in downtown Ottawa. Though it is getting a wee bit old and could use a huge makeover, one can look past the small deficiencies (toilets that don’t flush, elevators so slow and infrequent that most could have run up to the Penthouse quicker) and stare indefinitely at the amazing view of the city. The sunset and vista were breath taking.

I want to send out kudos to the wait staff at the Hotel throughout dinner. Amazing. Efficient. Friendly. Helpful. I hope they were tipped well. They turned a rather typical humdrum wedding dinner into an elegant white glove feeling event. Thank you!

Now I want to go back to the NCC and them renting out the Pavilion for events. I looked it up, they charge $300 for two hours worth of use. For your 300 bucks you get – the use of the Pavilion. Leave it as you found it, no confetti, no mess, no chairs, tables etc. bring your own. There are no services available, oh, except public washrooms, which btw had no running water to the sinks. Oh and $100 extra per hour if you want more. This does not guarantee you any peace, quiet or privacy though. We had a family soccer game going on just behind the Pavilion, loud boats racing up and down the river (it was a beautiful day to be on the water) and a helicopter giving sight seeing tours overhead.

I don’t have a problem with government groups charging to use facilities, but $300. There were three weddings before and one after the one we attended. Do the math. That is $1500 for a day. Do a rough calculation with me; from May 1^st to October 31^st there are 26 weekends. Let’s say there are 4 weddings booked every weekend, that means the NCC rakes in $31,200 in fees for this one location. That’s not taking into account, weddings on other days of the week, special holidays etc. Excessive? Does it cost that much to maintain a piece of property? Or, is this just another example of government pulling from it’s people, more dollars.

I guess my fundamental problem with all of this is that as a Canadian Citizen, that I technically have some ownership in that property.

There are examples of charging the public for entrance to parks and properties that technically, the public’s tax dollar already goes to maintain and preserve. Consider all national and provincial parks/campsites as one example.

I know many would not agree with me on this front and counter that the public needs to pay in order to continue to have access to these areas. I can’t say I disagree completely. I am asking though, why do the fees need to be so high?

When I visited the Grand Canyon a few years back, I was stunned at how much it cost to get into the park so one could look into the giant crevice. (it is amazing though and if you have never seen this wonder of the earth live and in person, you must – it is guaranteed to humble you) I thought of how many Americans could never afford to take their families there to see this site. Yet their tax dollars were going towards maintaining and preserving it.

Perhaps this is the reason so many in our society have no interest in preserving the earth? They simply haven’t had an opportunity to take in what nature has to give, because the gate fees at the camp grounds are out of reach for them.

Maybe the government could actually charge less for entrance and then take different measures to actually engage the public in the maintenance of the parks and preserves. Can you imagine, being able to take your family for a weekend of camping, tree planting, brush clearing and actually learn something about the park and why it is preserved?

Wow, that was a long road away from the wedding. Which, yes was spectacular. The couple will indeed be very happy together – congratulations Kim and Ryan! Yes, it was long overdue.