Hello my name is Karen and I am a Parliamentary guide. Today I would like to share with you one of the most exquisite highlights of Parliament: the stained glass windows in the House of Commons Chamber. In 1967 the Honourable Lucien Lamoureux sought to embellish these windows as part of a Centennial project. With a Provincial and Territorial theme in mind, the Dominion Sculptor Eleanor Milne designed these windows, and used the floral emblems.
In total there are twelve windows; five large ones on each side of the House of Commons Chamber, one in the gallery, facing the North-West, and another one facing north. In fact, these windows geographically face the Provinces and Territories that they represent. Each of the five large windows form a height of 28 feet and compose of over 2,000 pieces of glass that was imported from countries such as England, France, Germany, and the United States.
Aside from their representative and aesthetic purpose, these windows capture the strong, and what can be sometimes blinding sunlight. Instead, they animate the floral emblems of the Provinces and Territories that existed in 1973. Starting from the South-west corner and moving clockwise are: British Columbia’s Pacific Dogwood; Alberta’s Wild Rose; Saskatchewan’s Tiger Lilly; Manitoba’s Prairie Crocus; Ontario’s White Trillium; Yukon Territories’ Fireweed; Northwest Territories’ Mountain Avens; Quebec’s Madonna Lilly; New Brunswick’s Purple Violet; Nova Scotia’s Mayflower; Prince Edward Island’s Ladyslipper; and Newfoundland’s Pitcher Plant. You’ll have to come for yourself to truly appreciate its beauty. Perhaps you’ll even find your own flower.