LETTER

NCC’s “new plan” for Gatineau Park a disaster!

 

The Gatineau Park Protection Committee is saying that the National Capital Commission’s Plan for Canada’s Capital 2017–2067 is seriously flawed with respect to Gatineau Park.

Unveiled May 9, the new plan undermines Gatineau Park in at least three ways:
1) It reverses the NCC’s property acquisition policy (p. 70);
2) It denies NCC ownership of 12,500 acres of park-land (p. 2);
3) It misleads the public into believing it manages Gatineau Park according to international conservation standards (p. 67).

By endorsing this seriously flawed plan, the NCC’s board of directors and senior management have confirmed their incompetence: either they’re ignorant about Gatineau Park’s history, configuration and vocation, or they’re exclusively serving the interests of park residents at the expense of all Canadians.

The architect of the first plan for Canada’s capital, Jacques Gréber, said in 1952 that Gatineau Park was the essential feature of any plan for developing the nation’s capital; this new plan treats the Park with contempt.  

With this, the NCC’s board and senior management have lost all credibility, and Minister Joly should perform a major overhaul, given the new plan’s misrepresentations and its reversal of a long-standing policy.

To find out more, please read the article we have posted at Unpublished Ottawa : http://unpublishedottawa.com/letter/149383/national-capital-commission%E2%80%99s-new-plan-canada%E2%80%99s-capital-undermines-gatineau-park.

Jean-Paul Murray, Secretary,
Gatineau Park Protection Committee, Chelsea