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Part of senator serge joyal speech at rideau club
The Rideau Club is a noted social club in Ottawa, Canada. Founded in 1865, and located near the Parliament Buildings, it is the meeting place both of Canada's political elite, and the city of Ottawa’s social and business elite.
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Originally located across the street from the Parliament Buildings, the original Club building burned down in October 1979 and the Club is now located on the top floor of a downtown office tower. Ironically, at the time of the fire, the Canadian Government was attempting to expropriate the Club property to serve as part of a future US Embassy.
It was reported to be the first club in Canada (and one of the first in North America) to disallow the use of the blackball tradition which allowed clubs to subtly discriminate against potential Jewish members.
Similarly, in the 1970s, after seeing controversy over its all male policy, the Club allowed female members and at the same time removed restrictions on female guests.
Several histories of the Club have been written, beginning with Lieutenant-Commander Charles H. Little’s “The Rideau Club: A Short History: The First Hundred Years, 1865-1965”. This was followed by a 125th anniversary history, “Up from the Ashes: The Rideau Club Story” written by noted Canadian journalist Charles Lynch, published by University of Ottawa Press in 1990. For the Club’s 150th anniversary Christopher McCreery was commissioned to write a new and bilingual history of the Club, “Savoir Faire, savoir Vivre: Rideau Club 1965-2015” and this was released in late 2014.