On February 9, 1883, the contract for the construction of the Parliament Building’s main facade was signed. Construction began the following May. The plans for the main entrance already included the motto created by Eugène-Étienne Taché: “Je me souviens” (I remember).

The lights on the Parliament Building’s central tower were installed in 1908 to mark Québec City’s Tercentennial. Since then, they have remained lit whenever the Assembly is sitting, night or day.

At the end of the 19th century, it was the enviable lot of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly to have living quarters in the Parliament Building, a hub of social activity where political eminences regularly rubbed shoulders with the capital’s more prosperous citizens. The Speaker of the Legislative Council also had private quarters in the Parliament Building.

The Library data bank contains the names of all the contractors who worked on the Parliament Building from 1876 to 1909 and the nature of the work they carried out. This treasure trove of information will be further enriched once archival research has been carried out covering the years 1909 to 1980.

The presence of the coats of arms of the Netherlands and Belgium, in the Parliament Building’s main hall, remains shrouded in mystery. Research has shown that they were installed sometime between 1966 and 1975, but no clues have surfaced as to exactly when or why.

Of the 22 bronze statues arrayed on the facade of the Parliament Building, 16 were installed between 1890 and 1926. The project was subsequently put on hold until 1965 when, over the next four years, the six remaining bronzes were cast and installed.

While the Parliament Building was still under construction, the Québec Skating Club built an impressive structure housing a skating rink close by. Given the location of the rink, right in front of the Parliament Building, Eugène-Étienne Taché repeatedly called for its demolition. The structure was finally pulled down in 1889.

In 1904, Henri Beau’s painting, The Arrival of Champlain at Quebec, was mounted on the wall above the Speaker’s throne in the Legislative Council Chamber. The Government had it removed in 1926 and replaced by Charles Huot’s The Sovereign Council. Beau’s painting is now at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.

In the fall of 1881, workers began digging the foundations for the Parliament Building’s facade. To cut costs, the government authorized the contractor, William John Piton, to hire Québec Prison inmates who would be paid less than regular labourers.

As early as 1875, Eugène-Étienne Taché began outlining plans for a polygon-shaped library to be built in the Parliament Building courtyard. This was not to be, however, and in 1912, a power plant was erected in the courtyard to house the Assembly’s heating and electrical systems.

On June 20, 1985, the quadrangle of buildings and property bordered by what are identified today as René-Lévesque boulevard east, Honoré-Mercier avenue, Grande Allée and des Parlementaires street was declared a national historic site under the Cultural Property Act.

Le Parlementaire Restaurant was inaugurated on December 14, 1917, and was called Le Café du Parlement until 1970. It was originally a gathering place for the Members and personnel of the National Assembly as well as the press. It opened its doors to the general public in 1968 and four years later was renamed Le Parlementaire.

In 1913, painter and illustrator Charles Huot was asked to create an historic fresco for the ceiling of the Legislative Assembly Chamber. Entitled Je me souviens (I remember), the painting represents the province of Québec in the guise of a woman handing a laurel wreath to some of Québec’s most important historical figures.

In August 1980, the Government of Québec issued an order in council to replace the names of its five parliamentary buildings. Since 1938, they had been identified simply by the letters A, B, C, D and E.

A bronze statue of Louis Jolliet (1645–1700), early explorer and discoverer of the Mississippi, is included among the historical figures on the facade of the Parliament Building. Did you know that Eugène-Étienne Taché was related to this heroic figure of New France?

In 1875, the conservative government in power at the time decided to build a new legislative building. It is interesting to note that then Premier Charles-Eugène Boucher de Boucherville did not sit in the Legislative Assembly with the elected Members but rather in the Legislative Council, to which he was appointed in 1867 to represent the Montarville Division.

In 1885, elected Members had to sit in the Legislative Council Chamber because construction work in the Legislative Assembly Chamber was not yet finished. This meant that Legislative Council Members had to meet in the library until the “Red Room” became available to them in 1886.

From 1911 to 1926, a statue of Queen Victoria and another of King Edward VII stood in alcoves on opposite sides of the Speaker’s throne in the Legislative Assembly Chamber. Because they were often the subject of criticism, the statues were removed in January 1926.