Federal land in Canada.

The DARA Tennis Club was recently evicted by the Ottawa Hospital Corporation. Tennis star Carling Bassett played at the club. DARA was the Department of Agriculture Recreation Association.

Why the Lebreton Flats cannot be privatized and taken over by high rise condos: The Flats are known as the Western Annex of the Parliamentary Precinct and buildings on the precinct cannot be any taller than the Peace Tower, which is 296 feet. One condo is projected to be 656 feet tall or 50 storeys high:

House of Commons Ottawa March 30, 1966 Hon. G.J. McIlraith (Minister of Public Works) "Proposals and recommendations which have been made with respect to the redevelopment of the LeBreton Flats are that: In order to improve the foreground to Parliament Hill, the area which can generally be described as those lands bounded by Wellington Street, Bronson Avenue extended northerly, Nepean Bay, the Ottawa river and Bronson channel, is to be used to provide for the construction of government buildings which need to be located in the central part of Ottawa. It is planned that the first building to be located in the area will be the new headquarters for the Department of National Defence."

"In addition to providing sites for government buildings, part of the area will be used to provide the connection of the Ottawa river parkway to Wellington street. Part of the area will be required to provide rights of way for new internal streets and traffic arteries necessary to provide access for the large number of employees that will eventually work in the LeBreton Flats area. These will also serve the central part of the national capital and, the internal streets will provide better access to the proposed historic park on Victoria Island. Other uses, such as a small commercial area, office buildings and some apartment or similar residential uses are being studied. ( Any residential housing units would be constructed, operated and owned by the federal Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.)

House of Commons Ottawa November 23, 1967 Hon. G.J. McIlraith (Minister of Public Works) "Mr. Speaker, all members who think much of the development of the national capital agree on the importance of the subject of height controls in the central part of the city. The city of Ottawa has a by-law governing the height control and the federal authority tries to work within it."

"The whole subject of height control is of such concern that I expect it will be dealt with by the committee that will be examining the operations of the National Capital Commission."

"I should add that the question of height of buildings is also related to distance from the Peace Tower. The concept of height cannot be (in) absolute terms across the whole city. Heights of buildings in close proximity to the Peace Tower are lower than for buildings farther away from the Peace Tower. The particular building under discussion will be some 4,450 feet from the Peace Tower, which is close to a mile."

The Lebreton Flats are protected by the designation National Interest Land Mass. NILM properties are reserved for national museums, Library and Archives Canada, statues, Canada's First Nations, gardens, Canada Day festivities, Bluesfest, government of Canada office buildings, CMHC holdings, parks and playgrounds.

The Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa was part of the National Capital Commission's designated green space. "In the 1990's the former city of Ottawa incorporated a Greenway System into its official plan and zoning by-law, identifying a network of natural and open space maps. 

  Section 2: Identifying Ottawa's Greenspaces and the Urban Greenspace Network. "In the 1997 Regional Official Plan, this pathway system formed part of a regional open space network that connected land in the Greenbelt, Central Experimental Farm and large public parks with scenic corridors and over 300 kms of recreational pathways." "The open spaces are intended for public use, leisure and enjoyment."

PRIMARY GREENSPACES includes:

• public parks
• sports fields
• river access points
• major pathway corridors
• children's play areas, and
• civic squares owned by municipal, provincial and federal agencies.

SUPPORTING GREENSPACES includes:

• municipal forests
• school grounds
• grounds of public facilities and institutions.

The Canada National Parks Act of 1988 - "The national parks of Canada are hereby dedicated to the people of Canada for their benefit, education and enjoyment, subject to this Act and the regulations, and the parks shall be maintained and made use of so as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."