By built it … and everyone came

TRACEY TONG/METRO OTTAWA

Rideau Canal Festival founder Michel Gauthier stands by the statue of Lt.-Col. John By in Major’s Hill Park. Visitors can also see the foundation of By’s house in the park.

Military man The real Lt.-Col. John By was born in 1779 and served in the military from 1811 to 1815.
Rideau Canal In 1826, By was called upon to supervise the construction of the Rideau Canal.
Founding father Colonel By Drive, Colonel By Secondary School and uOttawa’s Colonel By Hall are all named for him.
Market plan By laid out the street plan of the ByWard Market, making George Street and York Street extra wide.

Published: August 03, 2010 5:36 a.m.

Last modified: August 02, 2010 10:39 p.m.

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Without this man, Ottawa would not have existed.

Over the long weekend, thousands of people celebrated the greatest accomplishment of an English military engineer who is now known as the city’s founding father.

A statue of Lt.-Col. John By looks over his canal from its place in Major’s Hill Park. And yesterday marked the first permanent annual Colonel By Day in Ottawa.

Yet, By died disgraced in 1836, having been accused of overspending his budget on the building of the canal, said the founder of the Rideau Canal Festival.

“During his lifetime, he was never acknowledged for building what is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site,” said Michel Gauthier, who wants people to realize the important role that By played in Ottawa’s history.

“The Rideau Canal goes back to the dream of one person. Colonel By arrived when this was a lumber town. He created Bytown, he built the Rideau Canal and thanks to the Rideau Canal, we have become Ottawa, Canada’s capital.

“Today, people acknowledge the work he did as a real coup, a real success story. Hopefully, wherever he is, he is happy to see that finally, his canal is being acknowledged.”

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