Brodys Notes & Scribbles... Fête du Canada!

From the CTV.ca News Staff with a report from CTV's Richard Madan and files from The Canadian Press:

OTTAWA JULY 1 2010 | It's Canada's 143rd birthday today, and Parliament Hill will be hosting a party fit for a queen, with Queen Elizabeth helping the country celebrate in style.

Her Majesty and Prince Philip will launch the celebrations on Parliament Hill at noon ET, arriving in a horse-drawn carriage with a mounted RCMP escort to address the thousands of revellers who gather for the event each year. The Queen's presence on the Hill – her first Canada Day appearance there since 1997 – will bring pomp and circumstance to the typically lively and informal festivities.

The 84-year-old monarch will be honoured with a 21-gun salute, displays by CF-18 jetfighters, as well as the aerobatic Snowbirds, and a march-past by the Guard of Honour. Her personal Canadian flag will fly from the Peace Tower.

Others at the bash on the Hill include figure skater Joannie Rochette, who won a bronze medal at the Vancouver Olympics. Top Canadian artists, including The Barenaked Ladies and Quebec pop star Isabelle Boulay, will pay tribute to her in a mid-day show -- a taste of the bigger, rowdier concert scheduled for the evening. The noon show will be broadcast live on CTV News Channel.

The Queen will go on a walkabout to meet some of the 100,000 or so party-goers expected on the Hill before taking her leave around 1:40 p.m.

Several thousand people greeted Her Majesty on Wednesday as she arrived in Ottawa for her first visit in 13 years, part of her 22nd visit to Canada.

"These trips are very important to remind Canadians their head of state is the Queen of Canada, and to demonstrate visibly the ties between the Crown and the people," Rafal Heydel-Mankoo, editor of Burke's Peerage & Gentry said earlier this week.

"The Royal Family has a deep and abiding affection for this country," he told CTV News Channel. "They've visited Canada more than any other country in the Commonwealth."

Her Majesty has an audience with Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff on Friday, and will visit Winnipeg, Waterloo, Ont., and Toronto during the Royal tour, which wraps up July 6.