The long-term preservation of the Experimental Farm.

House of Commons Debates Ottawa November 4, 1974.

Mr. Walter Baker (Deputy House Leader of the Official Opposition; Progressive Conservative Party House Leader) Progressive Conservative.

Mr. Baker (Grenville-Carleton.) "Mr. Speaker, on October 7 I directed a question to the Minister of State for Urban Affairs (Mr. Danson) regarding...a theory he advanced in the course of "Question Period", that the government certainly would have to consider the adoption of a trade-off in respect of green spaces in Canadian cities. Subsequently the minister indicated that at least in so far as the two places I 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 other members of the House, in respect of the necessity to preserve them."

"...There really is no open or green space available to those who live in high-rise housing, in row housing, in condominiums, or in densely populated areas. That green and open space which normally is provided by one's backyard, or the neighbourhood park, must be provided in these urban areas by green belt areas such as the Experimental Farm, or by other areas in other cities. This matter is of great concern not only in the National Capital Area but to other areas."

The Hon. Pierre De Bane (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of State for Urban Affairs.) Liberal.

Mr. De Bane: "Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the hon. member that the National Capital Commission is fully aware of the matter which he has raised, namely that we must preserve the green spaces of this area."

"I can assure the hon. member that there is no question of replacing the green spaces already existing in the national capital region with buildings. On the contrary, proposals are presently under study to link these green spaces together., so they are not isolated and remote...The long term preservation of these resources must be ensured, and at the same time the public must have access to them. The achievement of this objective implies the cohabitation of certain urban and rural environments. A typical example of this is, of course, the Experimental Farm in the centre of the city of Ottawa."