Caretakers
Cats were employed in the Parliament Building to control the rodent population until 1955 when they were replaced by chemicals. Groundskeepers fed the cats at various locations on the grounds until the 1970s. In the late 1970s, Irène Desormeaux began feeding the cats at the location of the current colony. She was joined by René Chartrand in the mid-1980s
Chartrand took over when Desormeaux died in 1987. Chartrand received the Heroes for Animals Award from the Humane Society of Canada for his work in 2003. One of his contributions was the construction of shelters in the colony.
Brian Caines and Klaus Gerken established a volunteer team in 2003 to aid Chartrand, and later assumed total responsibility when Chartrand retired in 2009.
A list of volunteers may be found on this site.
Read more about this topic: Canadian Parliamentary Cats