The Globe and Mail

You would think that the proposed Portrait Gallery of Canada would be a project that a Conservative government would love: no difficult art, no greased cones or high-concept videos -- just a stirring assemblage of Great Canadians, and those who've come under the scrutiny of Great Canadian portraitists. Just a big, accessible gathering of 17th-century first-nations chiefs, Sir Joshua Reynolds's depictions of stern military heroes, and photographs from Karsh to a haunting Bryan Adams image of jazz singer Diana Krall. And all this in a new gallery based around the former U.S. embassy at 100 Wellington St. across from Parliament Hill.