I agree whole-heartedly with your points, Ryan.
The city of Ottawa is supposed to represent the views, culture, diversity and passions of our country as a 'capital city' and quite frankly - pales by comparison to neighbouring cities such as Montreal or Toronto, in my opinion, in terms of its' cultural representations.
We are fortunate enough to have the National Arts Centre in our great city, and yet we are not demonstrating the respect and interest that the 'arts' deserve.
Quite the paradox.