Living in Ottawa, Canada

It has been some twenty years of living in this city. As the capital of Canada, it is a serene place to live.
Over the past few years it has undergone some changes, some for the worse and some for the better. The local (municipal) politicians have been forced to think in the 21st century and deal with the present problem of budget and services and stop being parochial.
The city is seen as the seat of the Federal Government by the rest of the country, however, it is also home to millions of hard working people who may or may not have anything to do with the Federal Government.
For those of us living here, it is a city for families with lots of things to do and catering to families with children.
The proximity to Quebec and the Governments insistence that ALL services be in both official languages creates a population of bi-lingual residents. But the problem is deeper than meets the eye, as most of the French speaking residents (francophones) live in the eastern parts of the city, and the anglophones (english speaking) live in the western part of the city. Although most do not speak about it, this division is problematic.
In summer the weather is wonderful and hot, almost tropical, but with high humidity. Tje winters are bitterly cold. (I was told some years ago that it is the second coldest city in the world .... I don't want to live or visit the first ranked in this category). I lived in Toronto before relocating here, and I must say that Toronto does not have winter compared to Ottawa. In Jan. and Feb. the average temperature is -25C ... yes it is cold.
This is my first blog so I will cover other topics as I go along.