Who you gonna call?
Mysterious, spirited goings on at Queen's Park leave some suspecting spectres of governments past, writes Christina Blizzard
By CHRISTINA BLIZZARD
TORONTO -- Two haunting tales of the supernatural are setting spines a-tingling in the history-steeped offices of the province's lieutenant-governor.

Two independent ghost sightings by staff members in the office of Lt.-Gov. James Bartleman have them wondering who they're gonna call.

At around 1 p.m. on Jan. 9, Anthony Hylton, a planning co-ordinator in Bartleman's Queen's Park office saw a man in a dark suit leave the vice-regal washroom, walk past a reception desk and into the historic Music Room.

Hylton at first thought he had seen a colleague who is with the lieutenant-governor's security detachment. He called out to him and followed the man into the Music Room. But the room was empty. A nearby receptionist did not see the man, but another staffer close by also saw someone.

A few months later, early in the morning of May 23, cleaner Judy Lyng saw a man in a swallow-tail coat enter the same washroom. Lyng works only half days and speaks very little English, so she had not discussed the earlier ghost sighting with anyone in the office.


"I neither believe in ghosts nor do I not believe in ghosts, but I know what I saw," Hylton said in an interview yesterday. He said he wasn't afraid of the ghost, and doesn't believe supernatural beings can harm anyone.

"I saw something. Call it a ghost. Call it what you will," said Hylton, a nine-year veteran of the lieutenant-governor's office. He said he saw the profile of a man about 6-foot-2 .

TERRIFIED

Lyng, meanwhile, was terrified and refuses to enter the upstairs part of the offices alone. She is now always accompanied by staff when she works in that part of the suite.

Lyng was able to identify the man she saw from one of the many portraits of former lieutenant-governors hanging in the suite. Bartleman's office did not want to identify that person, for fear of causing distress to the man's descendants, but they did narrow it down to a group of portraits.

Those men include former Premier Sir Oliver Mowat (1820-1903), who served as lieutenant-governor from 1897 until he died in office in 1903.

Others in the group include the Hon. Sir George Airey Kirkpatrick (1841-99), who served from 1892-97; the Hon. Sir John Morrison Gibson (1842-1929), lieutenant-governor from 1908-14; Lt.-Col. the Hon. Sir John Strathearn Hendrie (1857-1923), lieutenant-governor from 1914-19 and the Hon Sir William Mortimer Clark (1836-1917), who served from 1903-08.

Speaker Mike Brown said he will talk to Sergeant-at-Arms Dennis Clark about the Casper-wannabe when he returns to Queen's Park next week after the summer break.

Reached at Wawa airport in his Algoma-Manitoulin riding, Brown said he has already talked to Bartleman about the ghosts and has heard other stories from security guards about the supernatural ramblings at Queen's Park.

"Apparently, our security guys have some experiences of their own and I am going to be at Queen's Park and I will ask Dennis and his staff about these out-of-world visitors," Brown said.

Insp. Rick Boon, of the legislative security service, said he's heard numerous stories of hauntings since he came to Queen's Park.

"I have heard similar stories at different times since I have been here. That's about it," he said.

One story involves a ghost horse that walks down the main staircase. The Ontario legislature was built on the grounds of an insane asylum. Three women -- former inmates -- are said to haunt the building. One of them has long white hair, while another has a checked dress thrown over her head. A third hanged herself in the basement.

GHOSTLY APPEARANCES

As well, a check through legislative archives revealed a story about an old soldier who was said to parade in front of the office of the Queen's Printer. All of the ghosts were said to make moaning sounds and one night watchman refused to enter the print room after dark.

Meanwhile, Bartleman is taking it all in the, er, spirit of goodwill to wraiths.

"No self-respecting lieutenant-governor suite should be without a ghost," he quipped when I asked him about his visitors from the Other Side.


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I cant say I blame Lyng for not going back in there on her own poor girl!

Ghost horse? Man I dont think I've ever heard of those! Any takers?

There was a funky horse on "Lost"...?

aaah, post is too long, and I"m watchign a bad ass youtube video based on resident evil, LMAO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdzn4RYJz1g , anyway can any of you give me a short resume on what it's about?

I was talking to a lady who lives in Buckinghamshire, who runs a stable and claims that there is a ghost horse there.

Apparently, there are occasionally sounds of hoofprints on the cobbled main stable area when there are no horses outside. She claims to have seen a full apparition of it once, within the main administration office.

I should really ask her if I could go down with a team one day and check it out.

that was classic!

wasnt it awesome man? these guys even read the lines "now he's become a shadow of his former self" ROFL

hi Tiggs welcome to GM!

That sounds like a really creepy place... We'd love to hear more... you been there yourself?

I have heard this one before; this ghostly legend has been talked about in the past. And I do recall a group of investigators, investigated the sighting in the past but don't think they found anything.

Thats a shame Vemkeit... its always really interesting when investigators find stuff to back up stories and claims!

We live in what was considered the "old west". Legends of ghost horses are pretty common. Amercian Indians have many such legends.

Have you ever seen or heard anything like a ghost horse scout?

LMAO GHOST HORSE SCOUT =))