Gatineau Park deserves some love, so please pass this bill

MP Sophie Chatel (R) and Sen. Rosa Galvez are working to resurrect a bill that would offer greater protection to Gatineau Park. Photo by JEAN LEVAC /POSTMEDIAArticle content

When Parliament was dissolved ahead of last month’s federal election, one of the bills that died on the order paper was Bill S-289 — a.k.a. the Gatineau Park Act.

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Co-sponsored by Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi Liberal MP Sophie Chatel and Independent Quebec Sen. Rosa Galvez, the bill proposed to amend the National Capital Act to have Gatineau Park designated a national park.

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It may come as a surprise that the federal park is the only one in Canada that ISN’T a national park with all the attendant ecological and environmental protections. It is, after all, one of the most popular parks in Canada, with more than 2.6 million visitors a year, which, according to worldatlas.com, ranks it second in the country, only behind Banff National Park.

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To most paddlers, hikers and cross-country skiers who use it, it sure looks and feels like a national park. Yet its governance by the NCC through the agency’s master plan lacks the force of law, leaving it open to potential development, particularly from private landowners within, who might not prioritize conservation.

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Idea should be a slam-dunk

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If enacted, the bill would formally identify the park’s boundaries and put in safeguards to guarantee its ecological integrity and restrict further development. Technically, the bill wouldn’t make it a national park under the National Parks Act, but it would give it all the same protections while keeping it under the NCC’s jurisdiction.

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This ought to be a slam-dunk, especially in these days of concern over climate change. It’s not an especially contentious idea. It’s not about pipelines or carbon taxes or gun control. It’s about recognizing the significance of a 361-sq-km. park (larger, incidentally, than the island of Grenada) that is often described as the “jewel” in the National Capital Region, and ensuring it remains that way.

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The bill also ought to be a shoo-in when you consider the bipartisan support Chatel and Galvez say it has, including from area MPs, MPPs, MNAs, mayors, the Kitigan-Zibi council and the NCC itself.

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Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi MP Sophie Chatel is an all-season park user. PHOTO COURTESY OF SOPHIE CHATELArticle content

Over the past two decades, politicians of all stripes have brought forward similar bills to protect the park. Ottawa Centre NDP MPs Ed Broadbent and Paul Dewar both tried, as did Conservative/Independent Sen. Mira Spivak. Hull-Aylmer NDP MP Nycole Turmel took a couple of kicks at it. Conservative governments tried in 2009 and ’10, with Ottawa West-Nepean Conservative MP John Baird leading those efforts.