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Capital
Conflict by Nadine Blayney What
the NCC can and will do |
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OTTAWA – According to the National Capital Commission, Ottawa is a second home for every Canadian, a source of national pride and unity, a symbol of the nation to Canadians and the world. But Ottawans see the city as a great place to raise a family, to run a business, to work and play. Which is more important? That may depend on where you live. "We do realize we have a great impact on the local community. We own approximately 10 per cent of the land," says National Capital Commission spokeswoman Diane Dupuis. "Our biggest challenge is recognizing our decisions' impact on the local community, but we are funded on a federal basis, so our decisions are made for the long term and in the interest of the nation" Ottawa mayor Jim Watson says the commission exerts an unnecessary |
Pre
NCC...
When the route 95 bus stops at Lebreton Flats, it arrives on the edge of a huge empty field on the banks of the Ottawa River. But it wasn't always like that. Passengers on the bus may remember a busy, working class community that gave the flats its name. That was before the NCC ran over it with bulldozers leaving grand re-development promises in its wake — more than 30 years ago. This isn't the only unfulfilled promise made by the NCC. Another example is the Daly Building, home to Canada's first department store. It was demolished more than 10 years ago and the lot still remains vacant. Construction on a new building is set to begin next year. Post NCC...
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influence on his city and is asking for a re-evaluation of its mandate. "It is the national capital. The problem is that as long as we have a local community, we can't ignore one over the other," Watson says. "Any decision taken in the national interest is not going to be felt by anyone in Alberta or BC, but it will be felt in Ottawa." The National Capital Commission has ceremonial functions like planning Canada Day celebrations, the New Year's Party, various other festivals, and even planting flowers around town. But it also has enormous power to bulldoze, demolish, rebuild, buy, sell and expropriate land and buildings in the Ottawa area – and it's not afraid to use it. "They have power and money and when they want to turn Ottawa on its head they can. " They razed half of Hull for (federal government) buildings, bulldozed Lebreton Flats and created the Greenbelt. They have enormous power in planning, and they don't represent local interests," says Regional Councillor Clive Doucet. He opposes the commission's latest plan to buy, demolish, then redevelop a whole city block along Sparks Street, one of the nation's only pedestrian malls. |
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Stan Lithwick, 53, has been a Sparks Street business owner since 1991and has lived in Ottawa his whole life. He questions the commission's ability to improve the street, given its track record. He points out that the lot owned by the commission that has been vacant for 25 years. "They say they have the interests of Canada at heart, and |
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| The block on Sparks Street Mall that the NCC is purchasing for re-development. | |
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that they are more important than the interests of Sparks Street," Lithwick says. "That's why I oppose what the NCC is doing for Sparks Street I feel it has nothing to do with the national interest ... they can't develop what they already have." Dupuis agrees the mall has been in desperate need of attention for a long time. She says the $40 million the commission was given to buy the buildings is a good investment considering its proximity to the Parliament Buildings, regardless of whether they are demolished. When Queen Victoria pointed her finger at a map and chose Bytown as the capital of Canada in 1857, she gave the backwater-logging town national significance. Almost immediately, officials realized the city had to be cleaned up, so a Crown corporation was formed to beautify it. The National Capital Commission is a descendent of this body. It had a budget of $91 million in 1998-1999, not counting the Sparks Street $40 million, and another $5.3 million it got last December to spend on official residences. Its mandate is to plan and assist in the development, conservation and improvement of the National Capital Region, in keeping with the area's significance as the seat of the government of Canada. It was expanded in 1988 to include the organization, sponsorship and promotion of public activities and events to enrich the cultural and social fabric of Canada. The commission is made up of 15 members: five from the capital, eight from other parts of Canada, and the chair and vice-chair. All members are appointed and meetings are held in private. Manitoba Reform Party MP Inky Marks says the mandate of the commission needs to be re-evaluated to benefit all Canadians. "As a capital, it needs to be attractive, but on the other hand it's only one part of Ottawa," he says. "It is so non-transparent and not accountable, and they spend money like it's going out of style."
Root of the problem and the future The commission's mandate to serve the national interest often conflicts with local concerns. And citizens of Ottawa often only remember the grandiose projects and plans that failed or never were completed. The commission's secrecy leaves the capital region perpetually reacting to NCC decisions, Watson says. This means Ottawa is unable to conduct business properly. "I have some concerns about the fact that they are in planning at all, or buying up tracts of land in the downtown core, " Watson says. "I don't think that's helpful. I think they should limit their duties to ceremonial functions like Canada Day and Winterlude. They're very good at that. "The federal government really has to determine what the new mandate for the NCC is for the 21st century, and I don't think it has to be what it was for the last 100 years." Jean Pigott was chair of the National Capital Commission for eight years. She says she had many, many arguments with local politicians – and enjoyed them all. "When we've stuck by it and not been pushed around, it's worked out ... there's the capital and there's Ottawa," she says. "We've been plagued ever since the beginning of the country with distance – we're so far away from each other. "So it's a struggle to make certain people realize this place belongs to every Canadian." For more information, please visit: National
Capital Commission homepage
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