Within the past ten years Canada has experienced a renewed interest in its architectural past. Whether part of an international trend toward architectural conservation (witness European Architectural Heritage Year, 1976), or part of a general reappraisal of all things Canadian and the development of a sense of nationalism, or the realization, painful as it may be, that the character of the urban landscape is quickly losing its familiar character, this renewed interest in our architectural heritage has surfaced, and is manifesting its presence in many ways. To any who would doubt the existence of a Canadian architectural heritage, or would quarrel with its worth, one has only to turn to Alan Gowans' prefatory remarks to his Building Canada: An Architectural History of Canadian Life: