Today on the Hill: Tank, chopper descend on Parliament Hill for Day of Honour

OTTAWA – Canada’s military will be kicking up the dust on Parliament Hill today in preparation for Canada’s National Day of Honour.

An Armed Forces Chinook helicopter will whip things up as it lands on the front lawn as a backdrop to the Friday ceremony.

A Leopard II tank will also be parked on the Hill. And getting it there is more of a feat than some might imagine.

Questions have been raised over whether the lawn — with its many underground tunnels — can support the weight of the 64-tonne killing machine.

As well today, the last Canadian flag to have flown at the International Security Assistance Force Headquarters in Kabul will be run through the streets of Ottawa and Gatineau, Que., as part of the Soldier On Afghanistan Relay.

Here are some other events happening in the nation’s capital:

— The Ontario election campaign comes to Ottawa as Liberal party Leader Kathleen Wynne delivers a speech and sits down with Canada 2020 chairman Don Newman for a question-and-answer session about her platform, her record, and her plans for Ontario’s future;

— European Union Ambassador Marie-Anne Coninsx and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird will speak at the EU-Canada Co-operation in Common Security and Defence Policy symposium;

— Statistics Canada releases the new housing price index for March;

— The Supreme Court of Canada will issue a decision in the appeal of Union Carbide Canada Inc. against Bombardier Inc. over the secrecy of evidence in a dispute over jet-ski gas tanks;

— New Democrat MP Alex Atamanenko holds a press conference to discuss his private member’s bill to restrict the slaughter of horses only to those raised primarily for human consumption;

— Mental-health experts hold a panel discussion at the Economic Club of Canada regarding mental health in Canada;

— Anti-abortion activists will hold a March for Life rally for their Silent No More Awareness Campaign;

— And Venezuelan congresswoman Maria Conrina Machado will discuss her visit to Canada and her meetings with Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.