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About 2km east of Byward Market is the Laurier House , 335 Laurier Ave E (April-Sept Tues-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 2-5pm; Oct-March Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 2-5pm; $2.50), former home of prime ministers Sir Wilfred Laurier and William Lyon Mackenzie King. Laurier, Canada's first French-speaking prime minister, served from 1896 to 1911, while Mackenzie King, his self-proclaimed "spiritual son", was Canada's longest-serving (1921-30 and 1935-48). Notoriously pragmatic, King enveloped his listeners in a fog of words through which his political intentions were barely discernible. The perfect illustration - and his most famous line - was "Not necessarily conscription, but conscription if necessary", supposedly a clarification of his plans at the onset of World War II. Even more famous than his obfuscating rhetoric was his personal eccentricity. His fear that future generations would view him as the heir of his grandfather William Lyon Mackenzie - who in the 1830s led rebellions in Upper Canada - eventually led him into spiritualism: he held regular seances to tap the advice of great dead Canadians, including Laurier, who allegedly communicated to him through his pet dog. The house is dominated by King's possessions, including his crystal ball and a portrait of his obsessively adored mother, in front of which he placed a red rose every day. Other mementos include the programme Abraham Lincoln held the night of his assassination, a painting by Rogier van der Weyden and a guest book signed by Churchill, Roosevelt, de Gaulle, Nehru, the Dionne quintuplets and Shirley Temple. The house also contains a reconstruction of a study belonging to prime minister Lester B. Pearson, who was awarded the Nobel peace prize for his role in the 1956 Arab-Israeli dispute. Pearson also had a stab at devising a new flag for his country and although it was rejected the mock-up he commissioned, with blue stripes at either end to symbolize the oceans, is on display. Laurier Avenue East eventually meets the Rideau River , which is escorted by walkways and bicycle paths to the Rideau Falls , whose twin cataracts are separated by Green Island - the site of the Ottawa City Hall, an unattractive building built in the 1950s. The Falls themselves were once enveloped in an industrial complex, which has now been cleared away to allow excellent views across the river to Hull.
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