Officials go through final preparations for Canada Day event in Ottawa
OTTAWA — Jessica Mellor was doing her best Friday to catch her son, Lincoln, running — as toddlers often do — towards a security gate around the main Canada Day stage on Parliament Hill.
It was a tranquil moment as the family braced for the hoopla of Saturday, when half a million people are expected to gather in the shadow of the Centre Block to mark Canada’s 150th anniversary — an unprecedented crowd, with logistical planning and security to match.
“We’ve been meaning to come up for Canada Day our whole lives, basically, and never really got around to it,” said Lincoln’s father, Kyle, whose son is named for Lincoln Alexander, Canada’s first black member of Parliament and former Ontario lieutenant-governor.
“This year, 150, it’s a bit of a pilgrimage to come up and just pay homage to everything that the nation has done for us.”