OTTAWA CITIZEN, By Jon Willing

Yasir Naqvi’s fight to become the MP for Ottawa Centre includes a promise to legislate the protection of the Central Experimental Farm as plans move ahead to bulldoze the eastern portion of the federal land to build a new hospital.

The Civic hospital development near Dow’s Lake continues to draw condemnation from critics worried about losing trees and green space to a new health campus. People have been vocal in their protests, even using song to express their opposition.

Naqvi, of course, knows all about the history of the hospital project. He was the Liberal MPP for Ottawa Centre and a provincial cabinet minister when the 20-hectare eastern chunk of the Experimental Farm was served up by the federal Liberals for a new Civic hospital after Tunney’s Pasture, identified by the National Capital Commission as the ideal location for a new health campus, was rejected by The Ottawa Hospital in 2016.

Before that, the hospital was eyeing a development site at the Experimental Farm across from the current Civic hospital thanks to a land offer from previous federal Conservative government. 

Now, running as Ottawa Centre’s federal Liberal candidate in the Sept. 20 election, Naqvi is including the hospital project in his “climate action plan” for the riding as he calls for security for the Experimental Farm and O-Train integration with the future hospital campus.

Naqvi, who announced his climate platform Thursday at the Hampton Park woods off Island Park Drive, says there clearly needs to be a new modern Civic hospital, but he’s troubled by the ongoing work to design the health campus.

“I do have concerns in terms of the process that has been followed as it relates to the design of the hospital,” Naqvi said. “I think we need more community engagement, such as through the community engagement group that was created, to ensure that the new hospital really meets some of the concerns of the community.”

Ottawa Centre NDP candidate Angella MacEwen said she’s hearing concerns about losing green space and the need to have good public transit to a new hospital. If elected, MacEwen said she would look for federal funding to help build the hospital parking structure underground and to improve the transit connection.

Angela Keller-Herzog, the Green Party candidate in the riding, said the hospital site plan was “not the 2021 way of planning” and needed less emphasis on car travel to the facility.

In a written response, Conservative candidate Carol Clemenhagen said the new hospital was a priority.

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