HERITAGE OTTAWA, By Leslie Maitland
Heritage Ottawa welcomes the National Capital Commission’s recommendation of Tunney’s Pasture as the preferred site for a new Civic Campus of The Ottawa Hospital.
This is the win-win solution for which Heritage Ottawa and others have been advocating: a site that meets the Hospital’s needs while leaving The Central Experimental Farm National Historic Site intact.
Advocacy efforts began in November 2014 when Minister John Baird, then responsible for the National Capital Region, announced that 60 acres/24 hectares of the Central Experimental Farm would be gifted to The Ottawa Hospital for construction of a new Civic Campus.
While readily agreeing that a new Civic Hospital campus is warranted, Heritage Ottawa and many others strongly disagreed that construction of a new Hospital campus be allowed to impact the Central Experimental Farm, a National Historic Site of Canada and an active scientific research facility of global importance.
Opposition rallied immediately.
A Coalition to Protect the Central Experimental Farm was quickly established, comprising a diverse range of allies ranging from concerned citizens to representatives of the agricultural sector to international scientists. As the Central Experimental Farm's ongoing research impacts critical international issues as climate change and food supply, the Farm and the threat to its ongoing research received international attention.
However well intentioned, the former federal government’s decision to sever the Central Experimental Farm was made without appropriate consultation or consideration for its scientific and historic significance, or its environmental value as green space.
The change of government in October 2015 brought a renewed respect for science, the environment and evidence-based decision-making. In November 2015, the Coalition wrote to newly-appointed Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna, outlining its concerns for the threat to the Central Experimental Farm National Historic Site, its ongoing research of global importance, and the manner in which a decision to sever the Farm had been made.
In the spring of 2016, Minister of Canadian Heritage Mélanie Joly, responsible for the National Capital Commission (NCC), directed the NCC to undertake a transparent, objective study to determine what federally-owned properties might best serve the Hospital's needs, and to engage the citizens of Ottawa in the process of site selection.
The NCC undertook extensive study, working with both The Ottawa Hospital to understand its requirements and the City of Ottawa to understand how a hospital must be situated within the urban fabric.
The citizens of Ottawa were actively engaged. More than 400 attended the NCC’s public information session of September 22 at the Canadian War Museum, and 7,695 people responded to the NCC's online survey regarding potential hospital sites and 21 draft criteria for a new hospital location.
Tunney’s Pasture emerged from this detailed process as the preferred federally-owned site for a future Civic Hospital campus. The Tunney’s Pasture site answers the Hospital’s requirements for a large, level, central location. Of the 12 sites under consideration, Tunney's Pasture site was found to best meet the 21 location criteria, particularly in light of recent data regarding the future of urban transportation, demographic growth and federal land use in the Capital.
Heritage Ottawa representatives were present at the NCC's meeting of Thursday, November 24 at which NCC board members voted on the Tunney's Pasture recommendation. Nine directors voted in favour of the recommendation, two directors voted against, 2 directors abstained, and 1 recused.
The NCC will recommend to the federal governmant that the 50-acre site at Tunney’s Pasture be offered to The Ottawa Hospital as the site for a new Civic Campus.
Now more than ever, the world needs the Central Experimental Farm for its critical research on the impact of climate change on agriculture. The Farm deserves respect as a National Historic Site of Canada. And the citizens of Ottawa have clearly indicated that they love their Farm.
Two years of intensive advocacy effort for a win-win solution have brought us to this point. We look forward to Minister of Canadian Heritage Mélanie Joly’s response to the NCC’s recommendation.
Challenges are inevitable at any hospital location, as the NCC's study clearly indicates. The NCC's recommendation of Tunney's Pasture follows an intensive, evidenced-based analysis and public consultation resulting in its choice over 11 other federally-owned sites under consideration. We are confident that the federal government, the hospital and stakeholders can work cooperatively to meet any challenges at the Tunney's Pasture site.
Ottawa is the only municipality in Canada to have its municipal hospital subsidized to the tune of many millions by the federal government. There is a limited supply of free land available in the city core.
Let’s hope that The Ottawa Hospital appreciates and embraces this great gift.
Read the NCC's full recommendation report here.
Read the final report on the NCC's public consultation here.