Think the Greenbelt is protected? It isn't, and conservationists say it needs to be

The Greenbelt encircling inner urban Ottawa needs legal recognition to protect it from development, conservationists say, and a federal pushto create a network of national urban parks across the country could be the solution.

If itisn't enshrined in legislation, they say theGreenbelt will continue to be subject to thechanging whims of all levels ofgovernmentand even the board of directors atthe National Capital Commission (NCC), which has a much clearer mandate for development than for conservationand has long complained of nothavingthe moneyto properly maintain its assets.

"Alot of people think the green space around us is protected and will always be there, but at the end of the day it's not," said John McDonnell, executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society's Ottawa Valley chapter, which wants the Greenbelt to become a national urban park.

"We are in a climate and and biodiversity crisis. The city declared aclimate emergency [in 2019], and so having all of this natural infrastructure it's critically important that we maintain that."

Stronger mandate for development than conservation

The NCC's job, according to the act that governs it, is "to [plan] for and assist in the development, conservation and improvement" of theregion to reflect its national significance as the seat of the federal government.

The problem is that development, conservation and improvement canbe at odds with each other, and while the act says the NCC can "construct, maintain and operate parks," not a single other reference to green space or conservation is made.

The Greenbelt isnot definedor even mentioned.

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In its most recent master plan for the Greenbelt from 2013, the NCCincluded "arbitrary boundaries" first in a list ofthreats to itsecological integrity, followed withfragmentation by and impacts fromnearby urban development, among other things.

Theplan saida legal definition of Greenbelt limits hadn't yet been established, but the NCC "anticipated"itwouldbe done in the plan's lifespan about 10 years, which ends soon.

The NCCdid not answer questions about whether alegal definition of Greenbeltlimits has been completed (and if not, what forces have prevented it), whetherit's been approached about the Greenbelt becoming a national urban park and what it thinks of theidea.

City explored developing Greenbeltin2008

Developing the Greenbelt isn't unheard of, and you don't have to look too far into the record to find pushes for it.

In 2008, undermayor Larry O'Brien, city staff wrotea white paper to start a public conversation about developing at least 5,500 hectares about 27per cent of the Greenbelt, specifically rural and agricultural land.

None of the paper's reasons againstdevelopmentincluded environmental protection. In fact, itcharacterized the Greenbelt as a detriment to the environment, forcing urban sprawl further afieldand increasing emissions by makingpeople commute across it.

Fourteen environmental groups united to write a scathing letter to city council decrying the paper as "seriously flawed," and a questionnaire seeking comment from residents as "so highly biased that it invalidates any resulting analysis."

The few responses received wereopposed to Greenbelt development, and the idea was "not carried forward," according to Nick Stow, a city program manager for natural systems and rural affairs.

Development still permitted in small pockets

While still not approved by the province, the city's new 2021Official Plancontinues to open the windowfor limited Greenbelt residentialdevelopment in "historical settlements" outlined in the zoning bylaw andprevious official plan: Burke's Settlement near Shirley's Bay, Blackburn Station near Blackburn Hamletand Ramsayvillealong Highway 417 near Russell Road.

Confusingly, the new plan talks about"harmonizing" citypolicywith the NCC's Greenbelt master plan, but the NCC's existing plandiscourages developing anything but certain federal institutions and sustainable farms, and says specifically that existing homes in Burke's Settlement and Blackburn Station should be removed over time.

The NCCsaid it owns most of the land in the threesettlements and "does not plan" to develop them.

Royce Fu, the city's policy planning manager, said the new Official Plan permits development if the NCC chooses to develop its land, and that it also supports thenaturalization of those lands. Fu said the exception applies to privately held land in the Greenbelt, or that isn't included in the NCC's Greenbelt master plan.

Paul Johanis, chair of the Greenspace Alliance of Canada's Capital, saidthe bigissue is what the NCCends up doing in the future.

"They can develop within the Greenbelt or, more worryingly, they can dispose of Greenbelt parcels, which then could be purchased and developed by private interests," he said.

Meanwhile, the NCC's Greenbelt master plan is about to be reviewed. The NCC saidit expects to start planning the review process in 2023.

Squabbles elsewhere in Greenbelt

There are other pressures.

Earlier this year, city council approved the city's preferred east-end Transitwayand extension of Brian Coburn Boulevard through the Greenbelt near the environmentally sensitive Mer Bleue Bog, even though the NCCis staunchly opposed to that route.

Johanis said it underscores why legal protection is needed.

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"If we don't get any change to the protectiveframework, legislative framework for [the Greenbelt], then it will always be fightingthese battles," said Johanis, adding that the allianceis putting together a working group of organizations interested in making it a national urban park.

Another possible pressure could comefrom the province, which hasvowed to build 1.5 million homes by 2031.

A report filed earlier this year by the province'shousing affordability task force struck by Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark says specifically thatgreenbelts and environmentally sensitive areas "must be protected."

But all the homes will have to go somewhere, and McDonnell of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Societyisn't convinced the province won't change course.

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"We're concerned [the housing crisis]could put pressure on the Greenbelt which is why we feel that now is the time to walk the boundaries into legislation and to ensure thateveryone knows these lands are off limits," he said.

No national urban park underway yet in capital region

In 2021, Environment and Climate Change Canada said it was going tocreate a network of national urban parks across the country.

Work is already underway on sites in Winnipeg, Halifax, Windsor, Ont., and Saskatchewan,and aroundEdmonton andVictoria.Discussions are also underway about a possible site in Montreal, Parks Canada said.

The current goal is 15 such parks by 2030, modelled after the first created in 2015 in Toronto. Potential sites mustconservenature, connectpeople with itandhelp reconcilewith Indigenous peoples.

Site ideas in the National Capital Region have been floated"but an official intake process has not yet begun," Parks Canadasaid, declining to provide more details.

McDonnell said theCanadian Parks and Wilderness Society put the Greenbelt and Gatineau Park forward,andthat the work is just beginning.

The society is asking mayoral candidates to take a position on the issue, McDonnell added.

So far Catherine McKenney haspledged to make the Greenbelta national urban park, Mark Sutcliffecalled the idea "recycled," Mike Maguirehad questions about it andParam Singh said he didn't think the designation would change anything.