The nonexistent greenbelt borders.

Threats to the integrity of this 50,903 acre land mass that is owned by all Canadians: 

1.) The Greenbelt does not have clearly defined legal boundaries.

2.) The former head of a federal Crown corporation wanted to see "a million people" populate the land.

3.) The City of Ottawa, which is now in the process of changing Mer Bleue. Once the infrastructure is in place, residential and commercial developments are sure to follow. Witness what happened in British Columbia after the Sea to Sky Highway was built for the 2010 Olympics---"Developers became the real winners of the 2010 Olympic games."

Federal politicians who wanted to preserve green spaces in the National Capital Region.

House of Commons Ottawa September 16, 2009. The Hon. Gordon O'Connor (Conservative.) "Mr. Speaker, I am one of the great supporters of the greenbelt. I believe it is part of our heritage and it must last as long in the future as possible. The greenbelt allows the growth on the Ottawa side to be controlled, so that there is growth on one side of the greenbelt and growth on the other we can protect this belt. The long-term goal of the NCC would be to try to protect as much of the ecological basis of the greenbelt as possible and visit the greenbelt, as I do quite often on a day to day basis."

House of Commons Ottawa September 16, 2009. The Hon. Mauril Belanger (Ottawa-Vanier, Lib.) "Bill C-37, which is before us now, talks about protecting the ecological integrity of Gatineau Park. That is what it clearly says. Nothing is said about protecting the ecological integrity of the greenbelt."

House of Commons Ottawa September 16, 2009. MP Steven Blaney (Levis-Bellechasse, CPC.) "The greenbelt brings together several pieces of land along the Ottawa River on the Ontario side. It covers nearly 20,000 hectares of greenspace including farms, forests and wetlands. The Mer Bleue Conservation Area is located east of Ottawa. A boardwalk protects the acidic water and the bog that shelters unusual species and other plants. In 1995 the area was designated a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, a treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands. Other properties found in the greenbelt are Commissioners Park where there is a display of over 100,000 tulips each spring, and Bate Island on the Ottawa River."

House of Commons Ottawa May 25, 2010. MP Marcel Proulx (Hull-Aylmer, Lib.) "I have a question for the member who represents a riding in this region, namely Ottawa-Orleans. His riding contains a large section of what is known as the greenbelt on the Ontario side of the National Capital Region. How can he accept and tolerate the fact that his government is proposing to legislate the boundaries of Gatineau Park on the Quebec side, while on the Ontario side there is absolutely nothing to protect the greenbelt? His government or any other government could suddenly decide to sell or get rid of part of the greenbelt which is so important to the greater Ottawa-Gatineau region."

House of Commons Ottawa May 25, 2010. MP Marcel Proulx (Hull-Aylmer, Lib.) "...I want to focus on an amendment to the bill (Bill C-20) that we feel to be crucial, and that is the amendment on the greenbelt. The Liberal members from the National Capital Region, the member for Ottawa South, the member for Ottawa-Vanier and myself, are calling for better protection of the greenbelt."

"Together, the City of Ottawa and the NCC can do whatever they want with this land. We believe that this greenspace must be protected from developers...This space is the result of a planning process that goes back many years, to the time of the Greber plan which I mentioned earlier."

Minister of the Environment John Baird.

Minister of the Environment Jim Prentice refused to transfer 13,700 acres of the Greenbelt to the City of Ottawa. ("Greenbelt development under review" Press Reader, July 17, 2008.)

House of Commons Ottawa MP Brian Jean.

Members of Ottawa City Council who tried to preserve greenspace in the National Capital.

Councillor Jeff Leiper, who prevented the construction of condominiums on Queen Juliana Park a few years ago ("City of Ottawa Planning Committee-Stop the rezoning of Parks to Condos"); and who tried to stop the redevelopment of Rochester Field located next to Maplelawn. And Counc. Leiper rejected the NCC's plan for the construction of five embassies on a park in Mechanicsville.

The members of Council who voted against the construction of a parking garage on a National Historic Site.