The best seats in the house

Children latch on to prime pieces of real estate -- strong shoulders -- for a better view of the Canada Day opening ceremony on Parliament Hill. 

An estimated 35,000 people turned out on Parliament Hill  July 1 to celebrate the 140th birthday of Canada.

"We should never take for granted how lucky we are to be able to think, to say, to choose, to act, to live in complete liberty while barbarism and misery afflict so many other countries," said Governor General Michaelle Jean at the Canada Day celebration on Parliament Hill July 1.

Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald speaks to reporters in the old stone church of  St. Peter's, Dynevor, Church, on the banks of the Red River near Winnipeg. He was later  installed as National Indigenous Bishop for Anglicans in Canada at their triennial General Synod in Winnipeg June 19-25.

St. Peter's, Dynevor, a small stone church on the banks of the Red River near Winnipeg, was the original Indian settlement in Western Canada. Built in 1836 and rebuilt in 1853, it was the centre of missionary activity in the area. Among those buried in the churchyard was Chief Peguis, an important figure in Manitoba history.

St. Peter's, Dynevor, a small stone church on the banks of the Red River near Winnipeg, was the original Indian settlement in Western Canada. Built in 1836 and rebuilt in 1853, it was the centre of missionary activity in the area.

The National Gallery of Canada plans to expand its building in Ottawa at a cost of $60 million. The gallery says it is running out of space for its growing collection of Canadian masterpieces, the Ottawa Citizen reported June 29.

The 175-year-old Rideau Canal, which runs through Ottawa, was awarded world heritage status by the United Nations June 28. The billing places the canal in the company of such heritage sites as the Taj Mahal,  the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids of Egypt, and is expected to boost tourism by up to 40 per cent.