Although there is a considerable anglophone population, the character and flavour of Vanier are distinctly French. Sometimes teased as the downtrodden little brother of Ottawa or Rockcliffe Park, Vanier gets an unfair shake because Ottawans don't know its true boundaries, Ms. Lalonde said. Crimes that occur outside the city limits often get lumped in with the city. Crime is overstated, as is poverty, she insists. Rather, Vanier should be characterized as a city with an irrepressible esprit.
People help each other.
There's plenty of fun too. It was a dinner party where those attending moved from home to home, eating different courses along the way. Music played a big role in the party that always ended up at Vanier's City Hall, in the city's historic Richelieu Park where the White Fathers resided years before. We'd always have a folk group that would play at City Hall. There was lots of French and Irish tradition.