MP Don Boudria was opposed to privatizing green space for foreign embassies.

 

The National Capital Commission is removing 9 acres of park land so that half a dozen embassies can be built on the property. The location is in Mechanicsville close to Laroche Park. (From December 26, 2020 Jon Willing article in the Ottawa Citizen "National Capital Commission seeking City of Ottawa approval for diplomatic precinct...") 

House of Commons Debates Ottawa February 7, 1986. Mr. Don Boudria (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell) Liberal. "Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada has embarked on a policy of selling the Crown jewels. First it was the threat of logging national parks, then selling our national aircraft maker, then the possibility of privatizing Air Canada, and finally, the potential sale of part of Mile Circle Park right here in the city of Ottawa to build a U.S. embassy."

"The park is bordered by a residential neighbourhood. Hundreds of average Canadians live there and hundreds of children go to school there...As the opposition critic for the Department of Public Works I call on the Government to reject any American offers to buy or lease Mile Circle Park. I call on the Government to send a clear signal that Canadian parklands, our national treasures, are not for sale. I call upon the Government to state clearly that it will not act improperly by selling Mile Circle Park or locating an embassy on it."

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The City of Ottawa owned Laroche Park is identified as "an underutilized property" so it will not remain in the public domain when the embassies are built. Google: "Bayview Station CDP" April 2013, page 13/93.

The 2013"Bayview Station Community Design Plan" is outlined in red. The proposal encroaches upon Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard greenspace, which is protected by the NCC's National Interest Land Mass designation. The Ottawa River Parkway/SJAM Boulevard corridor encompasses 254 ha.