Families out exploring Ottawa on cloudy, cold Victoria Day

The cloudy, cool weather on Victoria Day didn’t stop people from venturing to popular tourist attractions. CTV’s Camille Wilson reports.

Despite the colder weather on Monday, families were out enjoying Victoria Day with all that Ottawa has to offer.

With the federal holiday came a civics lesson for Ronit and Heather Roy’s son, showing him where the prime minister of Canada works.

“We’re seeing the great Parliament building. Thought it would be a great opportunity to give a nice civics lesson to the young man here in Grade 5,” said Ronit Roy, visiting from Toronto.

Heather and Ronit are originally from Ottawa and now live in Toronto with their three children. They say they enjoy walking around and reminiscing about when they once lived here.

“It’s nice to bring the kids here who haven’t lived here before,” said Heather Roy.

The family is also in town to check out the Canadian Tulip Festival on its last day, along with many other tourists from across the country.

“We’re living in Montreal right now, so we’re stopping by Ottawa. Then we’re heading towards Kingston and Prince Edward County – some nice family time,” said Amy Tang, from Montreal.

“We’ll also check out the Tulip Festival.”

Tang says she used to live in Ottawa and is showing her grandmother visiting from China around the city she loves.

Jaelle Mino recently moved to Canada and is visiting from Montreal with her sister and her sister’s family. She says she heard about the Tulip Festival on TikTok and knew she wanted to check out the popular event.

“This is my first time coming here. Why not to take beautiful photos with the family?” said Mino.

The gloomy, cloudy and cold day didn’t hold people back from getting outside to enjoy.

“I think this is a piece of cake compared to when I was small and I was shoveling in -30 C. We’re Canadian,” said Ronit Roy.

Kallet Bimal says the cold did not deter them from checking out the city with his daughter.

“It’s been wonderful. Seeing all the tulips in bloom. It’s lovely seeing all the colours. Glad we could make it out, even though it’s a bit chilly out today,” said Kallet Bimal, visiting from Mississauga.