A fact from Parliament Hill cat colony appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 17 April 2006. The text of the entry was as follows:
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I have made a few more changes to be more accurate: "20-40" cats was changed to "numerous" since it has never been established how many cats were actually on the Hill. I have also changed Rene's "are" to "were" as to the cats being in the Parliament buildings. Indeed there is a Hansard entry on October 1955 in the House of Commons requesting the cats be allowed back into the buildings to control the rodent population since the newly used chemicals were not working and making everyone ill. I did not add this since I have lost the email with the Hansard reference, but will add it once I find it again. I have also added the refernce to the five volunteers who form a support team to help Rene care for the colony since 2005. - Klaus Gerken 29 June 2007
I have revised the number of cats from 28 (Rene Chartrand's standard answer to the question) to 14, which is the current population. Klaus Gerken 29 June 2007
I recall in the late '80s and early '90s it was common knowledge among kids who hung out downtown in Ottawa that it was the US Embassy who paid for most of the cat food. Unable to verify or find documentation, though. Mrlmtl 21:19, 28 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I doubt this is true, at least on an official basis. Very likely an urban legend, though it is entirely possible that US embassy employees made regular donations to the caretaker. Without any sources for validation this shouldn't be mentioned on the page. Archiesteel 15:09, 30 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Whats the rational behind moving the picture of the cat house to the bottom and making it so small? Isn't it a better picture of have at the top of the article? James R. Skinner 23:35, 28 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I think the image of the cat it a better "introductory" photograph, since it is an article about stray cats on Parliament Hill, not about the structure built to house them. Thumbelina walking around the cannon gives that impression immediately, that it's a stray cat walking around a historic site. (It's not my photograph btw, just one I got the photographer to release for this article, because it seemed so perfect). The structural photograph was resized simply so it would fit into the article without distorting text. Sherurcij(talk) (Terrorist Wikiproject) 01:05, 29 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'm glad the new photos are appreciated...however, I want to argue the case of keeping in an explicit reference to the cat's mousing abilities. This was indeed confirmed to me by Chartrand (though it is his opinion, which is why it was indicated as such). What do you think? Archiesteel 04:55, 4 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Personally I guess I feel it's just assumed that cats eat mice, but maybe I take that for granted having grown up with barncats. shrugs It's not a huge deal to me either way, I just felt it weighed down the article a bit. Sherurcij(Speaker for the Dead) 05:15, 4 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It's not necessarily obvious that the cats are allowed inside to help control the mouse population, and so I think it's warranted to add it in. I've put a less wordy version of the information back. Anyway, it's not as if the article is that long-winded (though I'm not sure if it still deserves to be considered a stub...there's not that much to add on the subject). Archiesteel 21:58, 4 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
By the way, I'm fine with the rewrite. :-) Archiesteel 22:38, 4 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
File:ThumbelinaCat.JPGOriginal Photo of ThumbelinaIf you guys are interested, I have a two nice hi-res photo of Thumbelina, one that shows the Ottawa Gallery and the Notre-Dame Cathedral, and another one which shows a close-up of her. I didn't put them in the article (after all we shouldn't over-represent a single cat), but I uploaded them anyway.Close-upThe first one could perhaps replace the current one, as it directly links it to the city, but I like the one with the cannon as well and so did not replace it. Archiesteel 04:55, 4 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Wow, you're right...I like the cannon image we have...but I also like that one of Thumbelina against the fence. (ThumbelinaCat2) Tough choice, to be honest - personally I'd suggest holding an informal vote to see which one people prefer, then making sure that the other one is definitely put up on WikiCommons - and then have a link on this article saying "See other photos of the cats on Wikicommons". Nice photos, I've never actually met Chartrand myself...don't suppose you have any photos of him? Sherurcij(Speaker for the Dead) 05:15, 4 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
René ChartrandOf course, I'm biased towards my photo... :-) The colors are more vibrant, the horizon isn't skewed, there are two Ottawa landmarks on it and it's available in high-resolution. So I'll vote for mine... As for Chartrand, I unfortunately don't have any good photos of him: they're all from the back or blurry. Still, I've uploaded the best (or least sucky) one I have of him...if you think it's alright we could always put it on the page, though in my opinion that photo is not good enough. Archiesteel 22:09, 4 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Okay, I haven't heard anyone object to changing the photo, so Sherurcij if it's okay with you I'm putting my own picture up instead (which, as was mentioned before, has a high-res version)...I will keep a link to the old photo here for future reference.Archiesteel 20:12, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Does "lost" in the list of former residents refer to the cat running away or dying? It needs to be clearer. — MusicMaker5376 17:21, 19 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Second. Don't use euphemisms. That's ridiculous. --66.189.136.219 (talk) 04:13, 15 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
What does this mean?!? Is this some feline interpretation of "hibernation"? For that matter, what happens to the cats in the winter when the temperatures plummet to -20°C or even -50°C? Enquire (talk) 18:11, 8 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
LOL! It does NOT get that cold in winter in Ottawa. NorthernThunder (talk) 15:48, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
What part of Ottawa are you living in that it doesn't go down to -20? Can we trade apartments? With windchill, it's certainly fallen to the -40s as well in the past. Sherurcij(speaker for the dead) 17:54, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
One by one Stephen Harper has eaten all of the cats who live on Parliament hill, the once thriving community has been completely destroyed and consumed by Harper's jaws.
Now that the cats have been eaten, the cat sanctuary is being shut down. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.149.187.98 (talk) 18:46, 7 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I've been researching history and am adding some references. I found the article currently says that Irene Desormeaux started in the late 1970s. Klaus Gerken's "brief history" blog and other materials (like this article: http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/cats-on-the-hill-heading-to-new-homes-1.1101159) say that she started in 1970, so I'm going to revise it to that date.
This one just leads to the Canadian Government, with a French of English option, seems too general. Government site. This one may be more pertinent: "Closure of the cat sanctuary", Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2013-2-26.
Unless "Canadian Parliamentary Cats" is a proper noun, the title is incorrectly capitalized. It should be "Canadian Parliamentary cats" or perhaps "Canadian parliamentary cats". We also prefer singular titles on Wikipedia, so how about a rename to "Parliament Hill cat colony"? That's singular, doesn't capitalize "cat", and avoids any argument about whether "parliament" should be capitalized ("Parliament Hill" is clearly a proper noun). Pburka (talk) 17:46, 28 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
