Montreal to Ottawa Great American Railroad Journeys

I have crossed the Atlantic to ride the railroads of North America

with my faithful Appleton's Guide.

TRAIN HOOTS

Published in the late 19th century,

it will lead me to all that is magnificent...

..charming,

confusing, invigorating

and wholesome in the United States and Canada.

As I journey through this vast continent,

I'll encounter revolutionaries and feminists,

pilgrims and witches,

and ride some of the oldest and most breathtaking railroads in the world.

TRAIN HOOTS

I'm using an Appleton's Guide to Canada from 1899

to explore a nation which has now celebrated

its 150th anniversary.

I'm continuing my rail journey through French-speaking Quebec,

where I hope to take a red leaf out of the Canadian recipe book.

Then I'll move on to Ottawa,

symbolically chosen to be the capital of the Canada province

by Queen Victoria herself.

By then, I shall be in English-speaking Ontario.

But at games time, the accent will be distinctly Scottish.

This North American journey began on the eastern seaboard

of the United States.

I explored the picturesque New England coast.

Then traversed the states of Connecticut, Vermont and New York,

en route to the Canadian border.

Having explored Montreal, I'm now approaching Ottawa,

before following the Saint Lawrence River to Lake Ontario,

and Canada's biggest metropolis, Toronto.

This leg will cover around 100 miles,

from the forested outskirts of Montreal in Quebec,

through the Ontario countryside and on to Canada's capital city.

Today, I sample an authentic taste of a national delicacy...

It's magic.

..get to grips with my Scottish heritage...

Argh!

..and find a parliamentary home from home.

If only I'd had a desk to bang on.

All I could do was say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah,"

or, "Rubbish!"

I shall be leaving this train at Vaudreuil.

My Appleton's Canadian guidebook tells me that Quebec

has wild maple-wooded hills.

The tree is a symbol for strength and endurance.

Its leaf graces the national coat of arms and flag.

Maple Leaf insignia are proudly worn by decorated Canadian military.

I expect my encounter with the species to be somewhat sticky.

The railways reached Vaudreuil in 1887,

when it was added as a stop on a line built by the Canadian Pacific

to connect Montreal and Ottawa.

Today, it's a suburb of the big city

but it's my gateway to the wilderness beyond.

My guide is maple farmer Pierre Faucher.

Hey, salut, Michael.

-Pierre, bonjour, monsieur.

-Comment ca va?

Ca va, merci.

Bienvenue a la Sucrerie de la Montagne.

-What a lovely name.

-That means, en Anglais, maple farm of the mountain.

OK, let's go.

-Apres toi, Michael.

-Merci, Pierre.

Who invented this tradition of maple syrup?

The first Europeans who came here learned it from the natives.

It was a great gift because we didn't have any sugar.

The only sugar we had was from the maple tree.

By the time of my guide,

the maple's sweet secrets had been passed down through the generations.

Here, Pierre produces maple syrup as it was done in Appleton's day.

Pierre, this is absolutely beautiful.

-Did you build it?

-Yes, with the help of the old farmers,

who were really good carpenters,

we built all these buildings to protect the tradition.

We live the tradition.

Today, Canada produces 80% of the world's maple syrup.

Exports are worth more than 350 million a year.

Pierre's son, Stefan,

is taking me to the font of this iconic Canadian product.

So, Stefan, all the trees give you the sap, do they?

Yes. Well, all of these sugar maple trees you can,

starting at about 40 years' maturity.

So we drill a new hole each season in late February or early March,

and then for six weeks we'll collect maple water.

It needs to freeze at night and thaw during the day.

So every thawing day, sap rises in the tree,

and a portion of it falls drop by drop into the bucket.

So, it doesn't come out as maple syrup?

It doesn't, unfortunately. I wish it did.

The tree's producing sugar and the roots are pulling water

from the ground, and that water is sweetening inside the tree

and going to feed the future buds for the future leaves,

and so we're taking a portion of that water.

The sap rises only in the spring.

I'm too late for that.

But Stefan is going to show me how it's done.

You put the hand drill here.

So...how far do I go?

Four centimetres, that should be good.

Then you need to rotate back and pull out.

And then I'll give you the spigot that goes in...

-So we put the bucket on the hook.

-Ah!

-There you go.

And so, if this were the spring...

Yeah, you'd get maple water coming out, drop by drop.

Around the time of my guidebook,

maple sap began to be processed indoors

using more sophisticated equipment.

Sugar shacks like this one sprang up across Canada.

Nowadays, most Canadian maple syrup is mass produced.

But here they stick to the old ways.

First, the sap is boiled for around five hours.

The resulting syrup can be sold or turned into an even sweeter treat.

So this is boiling maple syrup

and we're going to make maple taffy with it.

This is between the stages of syrup and taffy.

It starts to drip off and leave a filament backup.

It's maple taffy.

-Oh, what a gorgeous scent!

-Isn't it wonderful?

-It's really good to soak bread in it.

-Sounds good!

It's magic!

Even after all this time, I still can't get enough of it.

# Trois beaux canards s'en vont nageant... #

Before my next train,

I'm giving thanks for Canada's sweet signature dish,

just as the 19th century maple farmers would have done

at harvest time.

# V'la l'joli vent

# V'la l'bon vent ma mie m'appelle

# V'la l'bon vent

# V'la l'bon vent ma mie m'attend. #

Bravo!

My next stop is an hour to the west.

I'm crossing from French-speaking Quebec Province

into English-speaking Ontario

and I'm on the hunt for traces of Canada's British colonial past.

Appleton's tells me that the country is settled by a thrifty farming

population of Celtic highlanders.

It's time for a little fling with the tartan brigade.

BAGPIPES PLAY

Merci, a bientot.

I'm leaving the train at Alexandria in Glengarry County,

where an annual event celebrates all things Caledonian.

I have a rendezvous with a very special escort.

March!

DRUM ROLL

BAGPIPES PLAY

I'm being piped into the showground for the Glengarry Highland Games.

Local historian Allan McDonald

is helping me to understand the ties that bind Scotland and Canada.

So, Allan, this is really a splendid Scottish gathering.

Any idea how many Canadians would claim a Scottish root of some kind?

15%.

So at least four million that claim Scottish descent.

And do they make efforts to retain their heritage?

They absolutely do. They lost their language, they lost the Gaelic,

but they've kept their culture in the form of Highland Games,

such as this.

But they also have piping and Scottish dancing,

step dancing and, of course, Scottish fiddling.

What is the origin of all of these Scots in Canada?

The Scottish population in Canada goes back to the 1700s.

They hoped that this would be the land of economic opportunity.

And of course you have the Glengarry Scots that came up here first of all

from the United Empire, the Loyalist war against the American Revolution.

In 18th and 19th century Scotland,

the Highland clearances evicted thousands of Scots from their land

and plunged them into poverty.

Many fled to Canada.

And in the late 1800s they were followed by others,

lured by the promise of a new life in the wild Canadian west.

Highland Games were first held in Glengarry County in the 1850s.

My mother was Scottish.

Does that entitle me to wear a kilt?

Oh, quite!

Pull!

Heave!

Despite my Scottish heritage, I've never tossed a caber.

And I think I should learn.

How's the day gone for you today?

It was actually a very successful day for me.

I beat my elder brother by half a point to finish fourth.

Oh, that's wonderful! Wonderful!

-Yeah, great.

-And show me how you begin this caber toss

because you grasp the caber like that, don't you?

-We do, yeah.

-And then you...

-We interlock our fingers.

-Uh-huh.

-And then you slide it down, slide it down,

and then we give the caber a squeeze, a hug with our hands.

And we throw it up, up high, and then we catch it.

And then we let it rest against the shoulder.

And then we sometimes have to move around and get it balanced.

And then when we have it set, we start to slowly inch it forward

and pick up speed, pick up speed,

and quickly stop and throw it over your head

-as hard as you can, as fast as you can.

-Ha!

Having been coached by a professional, I must give it a go.

HE GRUNTS

HE GROWLS

Aargh!

Whoa.

APPLAUSE

The first prime minister of modern Canada, John Macdonald,

was born in Scotland.

He championed the transcontinental railway,

built by a Scots-Canadian company.

Scottish immigrants and their descendants

have shaped this nation's history.

And, boy, are they proud.

CROWD CHEER AND APPLAUD

1,400 musicians advancing across the field like a small army,

I never saw anything like this in Scotland.

I never felt my Scottish heritage like today.

MUSIC: Amazing Grace

Merci.

I hope to cover the 60 miles to my next stop before nightfall.

My train is approaching Ottawa,

which, Appleton's tells me, leads a double life

as a rich capital and as a rafting and milling centre.

It is the city of laws and saws.

For once, not my pun, but Appleton's.

Its upper town rings with the eloquence of our legislators.

It sounds like my kind of town.

A new day and the Canadian capital awaits.

Appleton's tells me that Ottawa is on the south shore

of the Ottawa River, which divides English-speaking Ontario

from French-speaking Quebec.

I'm making a beeline for Parliament Hill,

home of the Canadian legislature.

The parliamentary buildings, says Appleton's,

are designed in a modified 12th century Gothic,

and are an admirable combination of simplicity, grace and strength.

The cream-coloured sandstone's richness of tone

grows under the touch of time.

The parliamentary library has a lofty dome

supported by flying buttresses.

The first stone was laid by the Prince of Wales in 1860.

But what I see there doesn't particularly resemble

the illustration in my book.

I think it's time to update my Appleton's with a visit.

When work on this building began, Canada was the name of a province,

comprising modern Quebec and Ontario.

It was under British control

and Queen Victoria had chosen Ottawa as its capital in 1857.

To me, as a former politician, this is like a home from home.

But if you know the British Parliament,

you would not for a moment confuse the two.

Because, although they're both Gothic,

this is Gothic with a difference.

But the feel is the same.

And the intention in both places, I'm sure,

is to place upon the legislator

a weight, a burden,

a responsibility of history.

-Hello, Johanna.

-Hello!

-What a pleasure to be in the parliament.

We're very delighted you're here.

Johanna Mizgala is curator of the Ottawa House of Commons.

Johanna, here we are in the magnificent dome,

which I recognise from my Appleton's.

But the rest of the building appears substantially different.

Why is that?

So, on February 3rd 1916, in the evening,

there was a fire that began in the reading room of the old building.

The library was saved due to the quick thinking of one of

the assistant librarians, who ordered one of the pages to close

the iron doors as people were exiting the building.

But this is all that remains of the original structure.

Why was the decision taken in the first place

to build in a neo-Gothic style?

Well, that was really the architectural style of the period,

and Westminster has been constructed as well.

So it's natural, in a sense,

that a building which is going to have a similar function will have

a similar style and flavour.

And, as your legislators do their research, Queen Victoria presides.

Yes, Queen Victoria appears throughout the building, obviously,

because of her connection to the space.

We have portraits of Queen Victoria,

there are signs and symbols of her reign throughout the building.

Yes, of course, she's right here.

As in the Palace of Westminster,

there are two chambers of parliament.

An upper house, or senate, and a lower chamber.

Johanna, what a magnificent chamber, the House of Commons of Canada.

Tell me where the people sit.

Behind us in the chair of course is the Speaker.

On this side of the space is the government seats.

On the other side is the opposition.

And the gallery, up above, behind, is where the press sits.

Compared with Westminster, it's much bigger than our chamber.

But critically, people have a seat to sit on.

In the House of Commons, it is Darwinian, it is pandemonium!

You have to fight for your seat on a bench,

you're elbowing people from side to side.

So presumably this produces a rather more orderly atmosphere in your

-parliament?

-Well, it does.

In our chamber we have assigned seats.

And one of the main differences as well between the two chambers is,

of course, we have our desks.

That creates a different kind of drama and theatre, if you will.

They use the desks very clearly to make sure that people know

how they're feeling, happy or sad.

They bang on the desks when they need to.

How wonderful! If only I'd had a desk to bang on!

All I could do was shout, "Yeah, yeah, yeah,"

or, "Rubbish!"

In 1867, these buildings took on a new significance

when Ottawa became the capital of a newly united Dominion of Canada.

Professor Dominique Marshall is talking me through

the birth of a nation.

What did Confederation bring about in 1867?

It divides the powers between the provinces

and the central government.

It gives guarantees to French-Canadians

that their schools and their culture and their rights will be secured.

And it also severs some of the links with Britain, and keeps others.

Like defence, international defence and diplomacy.

It keeps the same queen, we still have the same queen,

but it's the Queen of Canada now

and otherwise it becomes an independent nation.

Just three colonies joined the fledgling state.

But its territory soon dramatically expanded thanks, in part,

to the enticing prospect of a new transcontinental railway.

By the time of my guidebook,

Canada had largely acquired its modern shape.

What about the indigenous people, the First Nations of Canada?

At the time of Confederation,

Aboriginal people were one person out of 20.

They were not voting, they were not invited at the table.

And they considered their relationships with the government

to be bilateral negotiations.

They had to negotiate power and land.

And up to nowadays, the Algonquins

have not ceded the land on which we stand.

When did Canada become 100% independent?

Not long ago, really.

1982, the constitution comes back to Canada.

It means that when you want to change it,

you do not have to go to London.

There is now a formula to change it over here.

But up to then, it could not be changed

without going to the Privy Council in London.

BRASS BAND PLAYS

Canada may be independent today, but for British tourists

there are many reminders of home.

With the red tunics, the bearskins,

the inexpert eye could be fooled into thinking

that this is Great Britain.

But the ear could not be deceived.

The incoming guard received its orders barked out in French.

SHOUTS ORDERS IN FRENCH

I'm continuing my exploration of Ottawa on the so-called O-Train.

This is Ottawa's Trillium Line.

I don't know whether to call it a train or a tram.

Unlike most new metros that I know, it isn't electric, but diesel.

And unlike most trams, it's entirely separated from the traffic.

At the moment, the system is tiny.

But wherever you look, they're building new stations.

By the time of my Appleton's, the Canadian Pacific Railroad

connected a vast country that spanned a continent

and stretched up into the Arctic.

But, to begin with, settlers were slow to populate the inhospitable

Canadian west.

I've come to an area of urban Ottawa that feels more like the prairies,

to hear how a 19th-century government initiative

encouraged migrants in their droves.

Scientist Dr Malcolm Morrison is my guide.

-Malcolm, lovely to see you.

-Welcome to the Ottawa Research Centre.

I'm really pleased to be here, thank you.

This is the Central Experimental Farm, founded in 1886.

Malcolm, why was this institution set up?

The minister of agriculture believed that we needed research

in this country in order to improve the lot of the farmer.

-What was the problem that Canada was struggling with?

-Adaptation.

We could bring crops in from England or Russia or Japan,

but they certainly weren't adapted to our environment.

They weren't adapted to the short growing season that we have,

the amount of frost that we have in Western Canada, for example.

The Central Experimental Farm was the hub of a series

of research stations founded across Canada.

They helped to pioneer scientific plant breeding.

This fellow here was Charles Saunders.

He was the first Dominion Cerealist

and he was the inventor of Marquis wheat,

which was the wheat that opened up the Canadian Prairies for us.

Saunders developed the frost-resistant,

early-maturing Marquis wheat in a series of experiments conducted

in the early 1900s.

In 1911, the Canadian Pacific Railway offered 1,000 worth of gold

to the best wheat variety in Canada,

and Marquis won by a margin.

Wheat acreage went from about 3.5 million acres,

and it doubled inside of about five years

and then again tripled.

So by 1920, 85% of all the wheat that was grown,

not just in Canada but in North America, was Marquis wheat.

And some people say that having a good supply of wheat

during the First World War was one of the reasons that the Allies

actually won the First World War.

Because by then you were not just supplying your domestic market,

you were suppliers to the world.

Yes, one of the first globalised crop was wheat.

Back in the 1880s, this area was undeveloped land

and Ottawa has grown around it.

This 960-acre oasis remains at the forefront of agricultural research.

Malcolm's team is constantly refining new varieties of cereal,

including, of course, wheat.

What is it you're trying to find out?

We're trying to find a crop that has better disease resistance,

better adaptation,

better tolerance to things like heat, stress and drought.

This is a test of a lot of different varieties of wheat.

And they're being tested for yield, and adaptation

and disease resistance. Look at that.

Your institution was established in the 19th century,

and I thought then you determined what grew well in Canada.

-Are you reinventing the wheel?

-Of course we're reinventing the wheel,

just like all the car companies have reinvented the wheel

since Henry Ford's time.

And look where we are now with vehicles.

It's the same with wheat.

We would be at the same yield that we would have been at in 1880.

Now we're about two to three times the amount of wheat per acre

that we got in 1880.

And what's the satisfaction you get from doing this, Malcolm?

The work that I'm doing, in some way,

feeds the population of the world.

I think I've gained an awful lot of satisfaction from this career,

-from my job.

-And the world from you.

Having been a member of the British House of Commons for about 20 years,

I felt privileged and moved to visit its counterpart here in Ottawa.

This city was chosen to be capital in part because it lay between

the Francophone Montreal and the Anglophone Toronto,

in a country that requires balance and compromise

if it's to hang together.

But it struck me that the designs of the parliament

and the changing of the guard ceremony tend, very strongly,

to emphasise the British heritage.

Next time, I'll discover the magic of the Thousand Islands...

Ahead of me now, a tiny island with an enormous house,

and the Saint Lawrence sweeps by on either side.

..learn to tread in the footsteps of a famous Canadian showman...

-Extend your arms and breathe.

-Whoa...

..and immerse myself in Canada's military history.

I will unleash fire and fury like the world has never seen!

Fire!

CANNON FIRES