Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Save the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa.

A March 15, 1954 Federal Government of Canada document, from a Cabinet meeting attended by Prime Minister of Canada Louis St-Laurent: "The Central Experimental Farm should remain an open area in perpetuity."

 The people of Ottawa were told that trees would be preserved; that the DARA Tennis Club would remain on the site; that the hospital will be a smaller, Scandinavian-type institution; that the medical centre will not affect the Arboretum, Dominion Observatory Campus and nearby roads and pathways. Twelve acres of land have been rezoned from Institutional to Mixed Use.

People who wanted to preserve the Experimental Farm.
Mayor of Ottawa Jim Watson: "I think the Central Experimental Farm is a real gem in the city and I don't think the public wants to take open and green space and have it developed." (From: friendsofthefarm newsletter, summer of 2013, page 10/12.)
Prime Ministers of Canada Sir Wilfrid Laurier; Mackenzie King; Louis St-Laurent; Pierre Trudeau and Brian Mulroney.
Federal Ministers of Agriculture Sidney Arthur Fisher; William Motherwell; Thomas Crerar; James Garfield Gardiner; Douglas Scott Harkness; Bud Olson; Eugene Whelan;John Wise and Gerry Ritz.
Writer and politician Clive Doucet.
Senator Anne Cools.
Former Chair of the Council of Canadians Maude Barlow.   

Federal Minister of Agriculture Sidney Arthur Fisher and Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier on the grounds of the CEF. Early 1900's. Archives of Canada photo.

Committee of Adjustment Meeting regarding the design of the new medical centre.

A zoning change.

A UNESCO document pertaining to the Rideau Canal, and the loss of the designation "UNESCO World Heritage Site" if a hospital is built on the Farm: The UN agency received a State of Conservation Report in May of 2018 regarding the following projects:
1.)  Various Federal Infrastructure Investment Program projects along the length of the Rideau Canal World Heritage property.
2.)  Rideau Canal Crossing pedestrian bridge(Ottawa).
3.)  Chateau Laurier proposed expansion(Ottawa).
4.)  Highway 417 bridge rehabilitation(Ottawa).
5.)  Third Bridge Crossing(Kingston).
6.)  Rideau Marina (Kingston).
7.)  Former Davis Tannery Brownfield Site Redevelopment (Kingston).
8.)  New Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus (Ottawa).
(Parks Canada indicated that the agency cannot protect the waterway, Google:"May 2018, State of Conservation Report, Rideau Canal" go to "November 14, 2019".) The Ottawa Hospital cannot build within 500 metres or 1,640 feet of the Farm and Dow's Lake, and views of the lake cannot be obstructed. 
House of Commons  Ottawa  February 19,2007. MP Gord Brown (Leeds-Grenville, Ontario) CPC: "Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate that I am speaking about the Rideau Canal on Heritage Day...It encompasses many communities, all with a unique heritage: Seeley's Bay, Newboro, Westport, Portland, Perth, Rideau Ferry, Smiths Falls, Merrickville, Kempville and Manotick...It is a heritage river, a national historic site and, hopefully will soon be a world heritage site."
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A letter was sent to the Rt. Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada.

A letter was sent to H.R.H. Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.

A letter that was sent to the Auditor-General of Canada: Coalition to Protect the Central Experimental Farm National Historic Site of Canada. Report #5. Date received 28 January 2016.

The Greber Report of 1950.
Petitions.
1.)  Stop the rezoning of Parks to Condos-Queen Juliana in Little Italy.
2..)  Petition 388-Protection of the Central Experimental Farm as a research facility and a national historic site of Canada.
3.)  Petition: Save Ottawa's Precious Urban Greenspace.Change.org.

YouTube videos.
"Ottawa prepares to hand over historic federal farmland to corporate developers"-filmed at the Dominion Observatory Campus in the year 2017. 

"Snow Music: Color/Dance" by George Winston.
"Ottawa Snow Drive and Walk, NCC Scenic Driveway Experimental Farm-January 3, 2021."
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Groups that are trying to prevent the destruction of the site:
1.)  Friends of the Farm.
2.)  Friends of the Central Experimental Farm.
3.) Protect the Farm-Home|Facebook.
4.)  Saving the Experimental Farm|Heritage Ottawa.
5.)  COALITION TO SAVE THE CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM.
6.)  Canadian Council on Food Sovereignty and Health.
7.)  Rideau Valley Conservation Authority. (1974)
8.) Save the Experimental Farm (1975)
9.) Greenspace Alliance of Canada's Capital.
10.) Contentworks - "Coalition fights to save Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa.
11.)  Coalition to protect the Central Experimental Farm National Historic Site of Canada.
12.)  The National Trust for Canada.
13.)  SAVE THE FARM - Protest to save our trees and greenspace-Ecology Ottawa. 
14.)  Civic Hospital Neighbourhood Association.
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Ottawa Journal newspaper articles from 1974 and 1908:



February 5, 1908, Journal newspaper.
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Protected land and waterways in the National Capital Region.
Airbase Lands-Federal, Private.
Arboretum Woods (Central Experimental Farm)-Federal.
Aviation Parkway North-City, Federal.

Brittania Conservation Area-Federal,City.
By-Pass Woods East-Federal.

Carlington Woods-Federal,City,Private.
Central Experimental Farm Woods (Central Experimental Farm)-Federal.
Champlain Bridge Woods-Federal.
Champlain Bridge Woods-Federal.
Champlain Bridge Islands-Federal.
Chaudiere Rapids-Federal.

Del Zotto Woods-Federal.
Dechenes Lookout-Federal.

Hampton Park Woods-Federal,City.
Hog's Back Woods-Federal,Private.

Lemieux Island-Federal,City.
Leopold Woodlot-Federal,Private.

McCarthy Woods and Southern Corridor-Federal.
Montfort Woods-Federal,Private.

NRC Woods North-Federal, Private.

Parliament Hill-Federal.
Pinecrest Woods-Federal.
Prince of Wales Woods (Central Expeperimental Farm) Federal,City.

RA Centre Woods-Federal.
Rideau River Islands-Federal.
Rideau River Park Woods-Federal.
Riverside Park-Federal.
Rockcliffe Park East-Federal.
Rockcliffe Park West-Federal.
Rockcliffe Shores-Federal. (Google: "urban natural features strategy, city of Ottawa, April 11, 2006."

 The National Capital Commission and City of Ottawa are anxious to acquire these properties: "Where land in a Natural Environment Area, Urban Natural Feature, or Major Open Space designation is in the hands of a public body or agency such as the National Capital Commission or a Conservation Authority, and where this property is not required to achieve their interests as expressed in their plans, and where this public body seeks to have the City acquire these lands, the City will proceed in accordance with policies (c) and (d) above. [Ontario Municipal Board decision, March 30, 2006, under appeal.]

The 22-acre Commissioners Park at Carling and Preston in Ottawa is part of the Greenbelt, and the City has identified 13,000 acres of the NCC Greenbelt that should be transferred to the City.
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The Farm is surrounded by buffer zones:
1.)  National Historic Sites of Canada have a 500-metre protective zone. New construction is banned within 500 metres of these properties, according to Senate Bill S-203, an Act to Amend the National Capital Act (First Reading November 2019.)
Senate Bill S-203.

 National Historic Sites.

House of Commons  Ottawa February 9, 1998- Member of Parliament Marlene Catterall (Ottawa-West-Carleton) Liberal "Mr. Speaker, last week the Secretary of State for Parks and the minister of agriculture designated the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa as a national historic site...It will be a permanent visible reminder in the nation's capital to all Canadians of the importance of agriculture to our economic and social development."
2.)  Astrophysical observatories have a wide protective zone. One day the Dominion Observatory will reopen.
3.)  The UNESCO buffer zone is 30 metres or 100 feet. Part of the Rideau Canal World Heritage Site is located at Dow's Lake.
Small-scale cultural landscapes within the Rideau Canal.
  • Queen Elizabeth Driveway and Commissioners Park.
  • Colonel By Driveway.
  • Experimental Farm.
  • Island Park Drive. (From: NCC's "Plan for Canada's Capital" 1999.)
H.R.H. Princess Anne, the Princess Royal; and Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev visited the CEF.

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