The new enterprise will be near the Arboretum and the Rideau Canal Hartwell Locks. A visitor's centre, laboratory, an amphitheatre, tower, huge parking lot and a plaza will be constructed.
Why this endeavor should not proceed:
1.) The Rideau Canal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is protected by a buffer zone of 30 metres.
2.) Guidelines presented in the document "Rideau Canal Historic Site - Principles for Good Waterfront Development" are not being followed.
3.) At least 500 nearby trees will be clear cut if a heath care facility is built on the grounds of the Sir John Carling Building.
4.) The Farm lost 91 acres of land in 1988.
5.) Maude Barlow, Honorary Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, and the Friends of the Central Experimental Farm were deeply opposed to a 2001 version of the same project:
"This is a place where families go, it's a place where people have gone for years..." (Ms. Barlow) said the project would create a theme park atmosphere and lead to the privatization of the Experimental Farm. (Ottawa Citizen article, August 3, 2001.)The government of Canada was prepared to annex 108 acres of Agriculture Canada and PWGSC land.
6.) A petition was sent to the Office of the Auditor General regarding the redevelopment of the landscape:
Office of the Auditor General of Canada, Report 5 - Environmental Petition Annual Report.
Date received: 28 January 2016.
Petitioner: Coalition to Protect the Central Experimental Farm National Historic Site of
Canada.
Summary: The petitioner asks for information about the transfer of 60 acres of the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa from the control of Agriculture and Agri_Food-Canada to the National Capital Commission. It also addresses concerns about the negotiation to lease that land to the Ottawa Civic Hospital Corporation for a 99-year period.
"The Central Experimental Farm is a national historic site where various environmental, scientific experiments are conducted. For instance, the Farm conducts experiments on the impact of climate change on agriculture and studies crop yields and soil diversity. The petition asserts that the proposed severance of some of the most significant acreage will have negative impacts on the Farm in its role as both a research facility and a national historic site."
Issues: Agriculture; environmental assessment; governance; science and technology.
Federal departments and agency responsible for reply:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
Parks Canada.
Status: Completed.
7.) A letter was sent to His Royal Highness Prince Charles regarding the annexation the of land.
8.) The CEF is a National Interest Land Mass.
9.) Federal Member of Parliament and former head of the Green Party Elizabeth May wrote a letter to Environment Minister Catherine McKenna regarding the loss of federal property to a hospital, to see the letter Google: "Celebrating Earth Day Heritage Ottawa."
The government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau refused to permit any encroachment of the Experimental Farm.
House of Commons Debates Ottawa November 4, 1974.
Mr. Walter David Baker (Deputy House Leader of the Official Opposition Party, PC.)
"Mr. Speaker, on October 7 I directed a question to the Minister of State for Urban Affairs, Mr. Danson, regarding something which had arisen on a television program "Question Period."..that the government would certainly have to consider the adoption of a trade-off in respect of green spaces in Canadian cities.
"At that time this indicated that the minister was at least considering the intrusion of development into green space. Subsequently the minister in the course of this answer, indicated that at least in so far as to two places I have mentioned in the National Capital Area, namely the Experimental Farm and the Ottawa green belt, he regarded these as areas of special sensitivity, and shared my view and the view of many others of this House in respect of the necessity to preserve them.
"I want to say that when we are dealing with the National Capital Area...we must regard, and government policy must look at green space in urban areas as a very precious commodity. It is becoming more precious each day as there is a tendency in our society ...to pack more and more people into fewer acres of land...The green belt and the Experimental Farm are precious for the reasons I have mentioned.
"There really is no open or green space available to those who live in high-rise housing, row housing, in condominiums or in densely populated areas."
Mr. Pierre De Bane (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of State for Urban Affairs) Liberal.
"Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the hon. member that there is no question of replacing the green spaces in the National Capital region with buildings. On the contrary, proposals are currently under study in order to link these green spaces together and have them penetrate further into the urban area, so that they are not isolated and remote. This approach might require an increase and certainly not a decrease of green spaces and an adjustment of the limits of the green spaces already existing.
"As I said, some adjustment might be necessary at certain times, which means that part of the existing open spaces could be traded against new ones in order to achieve a better integration. But I can tell the hon. minister that both quantitatively and qualitatively, green spaces are going to increase in the capital region."
A 2019 Senate Bill will ban the construction and demolition of buildings on National Historic Sites in Ottawa. The CEF is a National Historic Site in Ottawa.
Senate Bill S-203, "An Act to Amend the National Capital Act-Buildings or works of national significance" was introduced by the Hon.Serge Joyal. ("Senator wants NCC to have power to limit development near Parliament Hill" by Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, December 13, 2019.)
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| A 1997 document. |
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| The Hartwell Locks and the Farm, Ottawa Ontario. The photo is from smallpond.ca. |
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