Canadian Man Provides Sanctuary for Cats

O T T A W A, Dec. 24, 2002 -- Stand back across the Rideau Canal and gaze up at the towering Gothic spires of Canada's capital after a light dusting of snow, and you may be tempted by this seemingly fairy-tale setting to mumble under your breath, "Once upon a time."

Look back to the left of the center block on Parliament Hill, back behind the bronze statue of Queen Victoria guarded by a bronze lion capped in snow, and you may be tempted to say it again.

Because here at the foot of Victoria is a colony of cats and an old man who is trying very hard to keep a promise that he made once upon a time.

Descendants of Her Majesty’s Mousers

His name is Rene Chartrand and he is the keeper of the cats of Parliament Hill. All 28 of the cats are strays. There is an Ottawa legend that says they are descendants of the mousers that once patrolled the corridors of Parliament in Her Majesty's service. Perhaps it's true.

But all 28 of them are outdoor cats now and they are kept alive — in fact, kept very well-fed — by Chartrand. He has built them shelters — plywood homes he has modeled on the architecture of the Parliament itself. The cats that mix well with tourists — like Blanchette, Blackie and a calico who lost an ear in a scrap long ago — and all the others that hide when there are people around have a very good life.

The government tolerates Chartrand and the cats' arrangement but does not fund it. Tourists who flock to Canada's capital often put money in a donation box to help pay for cat food. Chartrand pays for the rest out of his pension.

"I'm alone," he said. "I don't need to spend much on myself."

A Deathbed Promise

And Chartrand has come on this cold December morning, as he does every morning, to sweep off the freshly fallen snow covering the roofs of the cat's shelter.

And when the carillon bells of the central tower — called the Peace Tower — begin to play Christmas carols, a peaceful look comes over Chartrand's face and he begins to tell his story.

"Sixteen years ago," he said, "there was an old woman here who looked after the cats." Her name was Irene Desormeaux and she was a friend of Chartrand.

"On her deathbed she made me promise to care for the cats," he says. "I told her I would until I could find somebody else to do the job," he laughs. And Chartrand never has.

A Haven for All Animals

And it's not just the cats. This has become a sanctuary for other animals that live on Parliament Hill. There are groundhogs who dine here in the summer. A family of raccoons eat side by side with the cats at night.

There are chickadees who feed on seed here and black squirrels who, to judge by their clatter, surely appreciate that Chartrand brings not only cat food but peanuts as well.

And what is truly amazing is that all of these creatures eat right next to each other. Except for "Baby," a 6-month-old kitten that has not yet learned the rules and cannot resist charging headlong into a flock of pigeons that have gathered to eat the remains of yesterday's cat food.

The government has asked Chartrand not to feed the pigeons. And he has told them to forget it.

"They'll put me out before I quit," he says.

But no one is going to put Chartrand out.

Always With the Cats

Brian Caines works for the Canadian government, and each day over his lunch hour he comes to visit the old man and the cats. He know all the cats' names, and two leap into his lap as he takes a seat on a bench near the statue of the queen.

"I think he gets a lot of self-satisfaction out of just helping the animals," Caines says as he coaxes a purr from the calico scratching right behind her ragged ear.

"He's just fulfilling a promise that he made. It's quite amazing."

And now at Christmas, when the members of Parliament have gone home to their families, leaving only the support staff and the Dominion carilloneur to play carols on the bells for the tourists, Chartrand and his cats remain. He will be here on Christmas Day, just as he has been here every single day for the past 16 years.

"Christmas is always the same for me," he says. "I don't see it. I'm always with cats. It's a day like all the others."

But there is another day that is weighing heavily on his mind. Chartrand turns 81 on Dec. 29. Looking after 28 cats is taxing work. He is still very spry, but everyone eventually must consider the inevitable.

"Someone will come along and take my place," he laughs. "There's always someone."

Once Upon a Time …

Caines isn't so sure that people make and keep promises like that anymore.

"I don't think people do things like that anymore," he says. "People are more self-centric than they were."

"Look at him," he says as Chartrand slings a heavy bag filled with cat food over his shoulder. "It gives you a sense of the character of the man. You know a lot of people make promises that are never kept."

But at Christmas in Canada, Rene Chartrand reminds everyone that once upon a time promises made were promises kept.