Their task: cajole the historical narratives out of the so-called First Parliament site, an unprepossessing piece of downtown real estate that has had a front-row seat for every chapter of the city’s meandering story. “It starts right here.”The site of Ontario's First Parliament is now a mishmash of gas stations, car washes and parking lots. The southern border of the First Parliament site, now a parking lot that backs onto the Esplanade, would have been just metres from the water’s edge. Apart from such legal debates, the parliament buildings served many roles in the tiny outpost, doubling as a church meeting hall and a library when the executive council wasn’t sitting. But when he couldn’t keep up with orders, several local merchants raised capital and set up Consumers Gas in 1848.

Source: thestar March 18, 2018 15:33 UTC