House of Commons Ottawa November 4, 1974 Mr. Walter David Baker (Deputy House Leader of the Official Opposition; Progressive Conservative Party House Leader) Progressive Conservative. Mr. Walter Baker (Grenville-Carleton): "Mr. Speaker, on October 7 I directed a question to the Minister of State for Urban Affairs (Mr. Danson) regarding something which had arisen on a television program, namely, 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 insofar as the two places I had 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."
"I want to say that when we are dealing with the National Capital Area, which is certainly an area of special sensitivity, or with any other urban area in this country, we must regard, and government policy must look at green space in urban areas as a very precious commodity. It is becoming more precious each day as there is a tendency in our society to pack more and more people into fewer acres of land. Municipal government is becoming vertical rather than horizontal. Indeed, we must consider the impact that this type of development will have on open space, particularly agricultural land. The green belt and the Experimental Farm in the National Capital Area are precious for the reasons I have mentioned."
"I want to make clear that we regard the trade-off in respect to the Experimental Farm, the green belt or any other area in an urban part of Canada as a principle we would have to approach with great caution in order to ensure that there is open space available."
"There really is no open or green space available to those who live in high-rise housing, row housing or condominiums, or in densely populated areas. That green and open space which normally is provided by one's backyard, or by the neighbourhood park, must be provided in those urban areas by green belt areas such as the Experimental Farm. I hope the parliamentary secretary tonight will give us some assurance in respect of the policy of the government on the matter of green space in urban areas. This matter is of great concern not only to the National Capital Area but to other areas."
Mr. Pierre De Bane (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of State for Urban Affairs) Liberal: "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. I also wish to remind the hon. member that the NCC will very soon make public its planning concept for the whole region. This document will be studied by a joint special committee of the Senate and the House of Commons. The long-term preservation of these resources must be ensured, and at the same time the public must have access to them."
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"Greenbelt land should have clearly defined boundaries protected by federal statutes, preventing commercial and residential development and other incompatible activities." (Greenbelt Coalition of Canada's Capital Region-Position Paper for the NCC's Greenbelt Master Plan Review--September 2010--Legal protection, Part 4.5.)
Politicians who wanted to save the Ottawa Greenbelt
- Leader of the Opposition Pierre Poilievre
- MP Don Boudria
- MP Beryl Gaffney
- Minister of National Defence Gordon O'Connor
- MPP and Councillor Alex Cullen
- MP Marcel Proulx
- MP Mauril Belanger
- MP David McGuinty
- Environment Minister Jim Prentice
- Save the Greenbelt! Ottawa plans to turn 1/3rd of the Greenbelt into subdivisions./Keep Ottawa's Greenbelt Green.
- Greenbelt Coalition of Canada's Capital Region
- Alliance to Save Our Greenbelt
- Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS)
- Sierra Club of Canada
- Heritage Canada Foundation
- Historical Society of Ottawa - The Sparks Street Mall
- Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - The Dominion Observatory campus on the Experimental Farm
- Save the Kingston Portsmouth Harbour and Greenspace
- Save the Peggy's Cove Lighthouse in Nova Scotia
Politicians who wanted to preserve the Experimental Farm
- Prime Ministers of Canada Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Mackenzie King, Louis St-Laurent, Pierre Trudeau and Brian Mulroney.
- Agriculture Ministers Sydney Fisher, William Motherwell, Thomas Crerar, James Gardiner, Douglas Harkness, John James Greene, Bud Olson, Eugene Whelan, John Wise, Lyle Vanclief, Gerry Ritz.
- Ministers of Public Works George McIlraith, Howard Green and Lucien Cardin
- Speaker of the House of Commons Lloyd Francis
- Senator Anne Cools
- Senator Mike Duffy
- Minister of National Defence and Urban Affairs Barney Danson
- Mayor of Ottawa Jim Watson
- Member of Parliament Walter Baker
- MP Marlene Catterall
- MP Elizabeth May
- MP Richard Cannings
- MPP Joel Harden
- City Councillors Catherine McKenney, Shawn Menard, Jeff Leiper and Rawlson King
- Writer and politician Clive Doucet
- friendsofthefarm
- reimagine Ottawa
- Friends of the Central Experimental Farm
- Protect the Farm-Home Facebook
- Saving the Experimental Farm Heritage Ottawa
- COALITION TO SAVE THE CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM
- Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (1974)
- Save the Experimental Farm (1975)
- Greenspace Alliance of Canada's Capital
- National Trust for Canada
- Save the Farm-Ecology Ottawa
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