During my childhood I spent a lot of time at my grandparents 100- acre farm near Merrickville, Ontario. I picked apples, visited the horses, planted a flower garden and climbed trees.
Then the Ontario government expropriated part of the estate when they built a highway between Jasper and Merrickville. A few years later my grandfather died and my Mother was not mentioned in the will. Most of the Victorian furniture in the mansion was dumped on the front lawn and sold off by a drunken auctioneer. The new owner the Manor told us to get off her property.
We ended up in the Maple Leaf Motel. To this day the words "expropriate" "auction" and "disinherit" are trigger words.
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| I am standing in front of The Manor in 1956. |
The Greenbelt, LeBreton Flats and the Experimental Farm are National Interest Land Mass holdings. Deputy Prime Minister Erik Nielsen created the designation in 1988 to rein in the National Capital Commission and to prevent the City of Ottawa from using NCC as a land bank. The people of Canada are supposed to own the Greenbelt, LeBreton Flats and the CEF in perpetuity.
NCC Lands having a potential for inclusion in the NILM. (From a 1988 document.)
1.) Western Parkway Corridor - Carling Ave. to Queensway - 40 ha.
2.) Experimental Farm Dr. Corridor - Queensway to Experimental Farm - 76 ha.
3.) Alta Vista Corridor - Kitchener Ave. to Smyth Road - 69 ha.
4.) Lebreton Flats - 35 ha. (65.37 were already designated as NILM, see my previous blog.)
5.) Hull South Parkway, Lucerne Boulevard to Gatineau Park - 275 ha.
6.) Part of Philomen Wright Corridor - 103 ha.
7.) 8 parcels on St. Joseph, Montcalm and Taylor Street including the proposed Science and Technology Museum site - 12.0 ha.
(Google: 1988-09-15-TB.- re-NCC.)
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In order to collectively disinherit us we are told that:
"Being a landlord is not a core business of government."
"We do not need bricks and mortar to govern."
"101 Champagne will be used to expand Ev Tremblay Park."
"The Greenbelt will always be in the public domain."
The councillor made a promise that he would save the Dominion Observatory campus.
Senate Inquiry - Proposal to Sell Moffat Farm May 8, 2002.
Debate on the inquiry of the Honourable Senator Anne Cools, calling the attention of the Senate to:
a.) the public's need for the Senate and the Parliament of Canada to take into their cognizance the current conflict between Ottawa residents with their City Council and the National Capital Commission proposal to rezone a riverfront parkland to build a 244-dwelling housing development on that riverfront parkland;
b.) to the national capital parkland known as the Moffat Farm, a riverfront parkland on the heritage waterway, the Rideau River, at Mooney's Bay, near the entrance to the Hog's Back Locks, all of which form a part of the ancient and historic Rideau Canal and the Rideau Canal Waterway System, a parkland which for decades has been held by the National Capital Commission as a commissioned public trust for its protection for the public good and for the public use;
c.) to the meaning in law of a commission, being that a commission is a public body with a public purpose, authorized by letters patent, an act of Parliament, or other lawful warrant to execute and perform a public office, and further, that the National Capital Commission is no ordinary entity, or, no simple arm's length crown corporation but is a commission which is a peculiar constitutional entity, intended to perform a public duty;
d.) to the current land use designation zoning of Moffat farm which is zoned as parkland, as are other Ottawa national capital parks such as Vincent Massey Park and Hog's Back Park, parklands whose maintenance and sustenance are of great importance and concern to Ottawans;
e.) to the National Capital Commission contracted agreements with private developers, including that one with DCR Phoenix regarding the sale for development of the parkland, Moffat Farm, to the same DCR Phoenix, a private developer currently acting as the National Capital Commission agent before Ottawa City Council and the Ontario Municipal Board in proceedings about the National Capital Commission proposed re-zoning of Moffat Farm from parkland to residential zoning as to permit the National Capital Commission's sale of this parkland to private developers;
f.) to Ottawa City Council's unanimous decision on March 27, 2002 rejecting and soundly defeating the NCC/DCR Phoenix's proposal for re-zoning and redevelopment of the Moffat Farm parkland, to the city government's strong objection to the proposed development, being the building of 244 expensive, luxurious high-end houses on the Moffat Farm parkland, a parkland also known for its environmentally sensitive lands;
g.) to the responsible ministry's and the National Capital Commission's own protocol that holds that the National Capital Commission should defer to municipal government on planning issues and land use;
h.) to another motion overwhelmingly adopted by Ottawa City Council on April 10, 2002, expressing the City's wish to purchase the Moffat Farm parkland, also asking the National Capital Commission to honour City Council's decision and also asking the National Capital Commission to withdraw its own appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board...
i.) to that same City Council motion of April 10, 2002, which said:
"WHEREAS the Moffat Farm has been in public ownership for the past 50 years, since its expropriation, and has, until 1999, been designated a Capital Park by the National Capital Commission;
AND WHEREAS the National Capital Commission determined that this property is surplus to national needs and intends to sell it;
AND WHEREAS the Moffat Farm is outside the General Urban Area and designated as Waterfront Open Space in the Regional Official Plan, which is land in, or intended to be in public ownership and intended for public recreation and environmental conservation uses;
AND WHEREAS the Moffat Farm has no 'right of development' at this time, being designated Major Open Space, Waterway Corridor and Environmentally Sensitive Area; zoning that offers the highest possible protection;
AND WHEREAS, in the Ottawa Official Plan, the Moffat Farm is designated as a District/Community Park, a use identified in the 1973 Carleton Heights Secondary Plan as a means to address inadequate parkland for this area of the City;
AND WHEREAS, since 1973, the population of this community has doubled and available parkland has already decreased;
AND WHEREAS the City of Ottawa has a policy to acquire, where possible, waterfront properties that form the Greenway System and preserve these lands for public open space use;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Ottawa offer to purchase the entire Moffat property from the NCC at a price which will be based on its current and future use as a District Park; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City request the local Members of Parliament (National Capital Caucus) to urge the NCC to respect Council's unanimous decision to withdraw its appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board."
j.) to the growing disenchantment and disappointment of Ottawans who perceive the National Capital Commission's corporate culture as running roughshod over Ottawans with wanton disregard for local communities of which the Moffat Farm is only one of several which include Lac Leamy, Sparks Street redevelopment and others, all of which have resulted in diminishing public respect for the National Capital Commission and its land use proposals in the national capital area;
k.) to the burgeoning public unease about the destiny of Ottawa's precious public lands as many Ottawans are anxious that the National Capital Commission is conducting its affairs in land use matters, more as a private development company and less as a public commission entrusted with Her Majesty's and the public interest in the proper land use of unique, historical, heritage parklands, and;
l.) to the public's need for Parliament's study and review of the National Capital Commission in its entirety, including its role, structure, organization, operations, authorizing statute, its Parliamentary appropriations, finances, and its relations with Canadian citizens especially Canadians living in the Ottawa area, its land dealings, its land developments, and its agreements with private developers selected by the National Capital Commission as recipients, buyers, of treasured Ottawa Lands."
