(Read: the 1975-1976 NCC Annual Report, page 9/52.)
The National Interest
"Up until recent years, the NCC and its predecessors were in effect the only long-range planners for the National Capital Region. But as Ottawa, Hull and their surrounding communities grew, other jurisdictions began to assume their own and proper responsibilities for planning. Naturally, administrative conflicts have resulted."
"Under the National Capital Act, the Commission is responsible for protecting and promoting the national interest in the Capital. The objectives and purposes of the Commission are set out in the Act: 'To prepare for and assist in the development, conservation and improvement of the National Capital Region in order that the nature and character of the government of Canada may be in accordance with its national significance'".
"It has been argued by some that only municipal authorities have the responsibility for promulgating and implementing region-wide planning in the National Capital Region. The Commission holds that this view is unconstitutional."
"Provincial and municipal authorities have responsibility for local concerns in their respective jurisdictions in the Region. But their responsibility cannot be construed as representing the national concerns and interests. If Parliament had not wanted to see a national character for the Capital, it would not have created a national agency for that purpose, and there has been such a national agency since 1899."
"An important aspect of this agency-now the NCC-has always been its non-partisan character. The agency has always enjoyed the confidence of successive Parliaments and governments since Laurier's day and progress in the National Capital has never been identified with the policies of a particular government. The resultant continuity and stability are at least partly responsible for the quality of development so far."
"The Commission has functions different from those of a government department. Its special advisory committees-on planning, on design and on property transactions-are able to assess federal projects in the Region from a national viewpoint. The committee, like the 20 Commissioners themselves, are drawn from all regions and provinces of Canada and they give Parliament and the government independent professional advice in the fields of architecture, urban planning, environment, transportation, and land use and development."
(Photographs until page 12.)
"In short, the emphasis in the Commissions policies and operations is on the national view in the planning and development of the Capital."
"Because federal lands constitute 10 per cent of the National Capital Region-about 30 per cent in the urban area-the NCC is sometimes looked upon as some kind of private land developer."
"This is far from the case."
"The NCC is the agent of the national government of Canada. Its programs are regulated by Cabinet. Its authority emanates directly from Parliament. It is responsible twice over to elected federal representatives: the government and Parliament."
"Parliament votes annual sums of money for development and conservation of the Capital Region. Parliament does not vote this money in the interest of provincial, municipal or private ventures. It allots this money in the national interest to enhance a Capital for all Canadians."
"The NCC provided the Special Joint Committee with figures showing that in the decade up to 1975 Canadian taxpayers contributed $1.6 billion to the planning, development and maintenance of federal properties in the National Capital Region."
