A petition sent to the Auditor General of Canada.
Petition: 388
Issue (s): Agriculture, environmental assessment, governance, science and technology
Petitioner (s): Canadian organization
Petitioner (s) Location (s): Ottawa, Ontario
Date Received: 28 January 2016
Status: Completed. Response to petition received.
Summary: The petition asks for information about the transfer of 60 acres of the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa from the control of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to the National Capital Commission.
It also addresses concerns about the negotiations to lease that land to the Ottawa Hospital Corporation for a 99-year period.
The Central Experimental Farm is a national historic site where various environmental scientific experiments are conducted. For instance, the Farm conducts experiments on the impact of climate change on agriculture, and studies crop yields and soil biodiversity. The petitioner asserts that the proposed severance of some of the most significant acreage will have negative impacts on the Farm in both its role as a research facility and a national historic site.
The petitioner asks, among other things, why the transfer was not subjected to an environmental assessment, what other sites were selected , and why no public hearings have been held on the transfer. The petition also asks to be made available to the general public the basics of the discussion that led to the transfer.
Federal departments responsible for reply: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada; Parks Canada.
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(Reposting) Saving the Farm and the Greenbelt House of Commons Ottawa May 25, 2010: MP Marcel Proulx (Hull-Aylmer, Liberal): "...The Liberal members from the National Capital Region, the member for Ottawa-Vanier, the member for Ottawa South and myself have good reason to call for enhanced protection of the greenbelt. There are, as a matter of fact, no major regulations protecting this area. Together the City of Ottawa and the NCC could do what they like with it. We believe this greenspace must be protected from developers."
Agriculture Canada research farms are included in the Greenbelt. (Google: savecfbrockcliffe-The National Interest Land Holdings in 1988.)-"1988-09-15-TB-re-NCC".
Prime Minister Mackenzie King and Jacques Greber wanted the 50,000 acre Greenbelt to be owned by the Federal Government of Canada in perpetuity, because:
1.) The Greenbelt is a living memorial to the Canadian soldiers who lost their lives during World War Two;
2.) lower levels of government including municipalities can be influenced by developer donations;
3..) Prime Minister King and Jacques Greber never wanted the land privatized. I do not believe they would have approved of Parks Canada converting the land to an Urban National Park. (In the year 2017, Parks Canada was thinking of selling all the Rideau Canal locks, bridges and dams; and selling all the infrastructure in Canada's National Parks for $8 billion dollars. An article by Dean Beeby of CBC News.)
(Reposting) House of Commons Ottawa March 24, 1986 MP Jean-Robert Gauthier (Chief Opposition Whip) (Whip of the Liberal Party): "Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Deputy Prime Minister. Will he tell the House of Commons if it is federal policy to sell federally owned parkland? NCC Chairman Jean Pigott recently said she wants to sell part of an Ottawa riverfront park known as Mile Circle to the United States of America for an embassy compound. Is the Government in favour of selling our natural parklands?"
"The Experimental Farm forms a central park within a residential area of the City of Ottawa." (The Greber Report of 1959, page 167/395.)
Federal parks within the CEF: The Fletcher Wildlife Garden, Arboretum, Ornamental Gardens, Macoun Memorial Gardens, Commissioners Park, Historic Hedge Collection, Experimental Farm Woods and Queen Juliana Park - savecfbrockcliffe.
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