General Meeting – October 21 2024 – Greenspace Alliance of Canada's Capital

Members present: Paul Johanis (chair), Nicole DesRoches, Jason Kania, J.P Unger, Erwin Dreessen, Arto Keklikian, Iola Price, Jean-Claude Ethéart

1. Adoption of the agenda

The proposed agenda was agreed upon, with the addition of items 2c, 2d and 4c ii.

Moved by Jason, seconded by Nicole. Approved.

2. Administrative items

a. Minutes of September 16 2024 meeting (for approval)

Moved by Paul, seconded by Arto. Carried.

b. Website report

Paul reported that the stock images used in the demo that was shown at the last meeting have been replaced with our own images of local greenspace and our own people where applicable. He indicated that the new website was in the process of being transferred to our server, with Jason working closely with the contractor. There will follow a period of testing and validation to which members can contribute their content knowledge and expertise. The contractor has committed to honour a 30-day post-delivery training and support period.

c. Association report

Although Nicole was not able to attend the seminar held by les Amis des Parcs in Montreal last month, she has now been invited to join a webinar on November 27, where she will give a presentation on the work of the Greenspace Alliance.

d. Treasurer’s report

Jason submitted a reimbursement request of $30.53 for the temporary rental of additional space on our server for the new website project. Moved by Paul, seconded by Nicole. Carried

Comprehensive Zoning By-Law Review
With a deadline of October 31 fast approaching, Paul proposed that the GA prepare a submission to the City focussed on zoning measures that take into account making space for trees to grow to maturity so as to maintain and expand the urban forest canopy. He also proposed a second theme pressing the City to demystify the assumptions and methodology surrounding density, which at present are so opaque as to induce fear and rejection on the part of residents, putting in jeopardy the long-term sustainability of the OP strategic direction towards building compact communities.
Official Plan 2021
The City is developing indicators and metrics to track the progress of implementing the new Official Plan. The GA put forward the request for the OP targets for canopy cover, access to greenspace and no net loss of rural wetlands and forest cover be included in the regular monitoring.
Official Plan 2021
This omnibus amendment was passed on October 16 2024. We had made representation to the City regarding Country Lot Subdivisions and the confirmation that all wetlands, evaluated and unevaluated, were subject to the no net loss policy set in the OP. Both were included in the final approved version of the OPA.
New urban expansion policy
The City has published its response to the change in the PPS that allows for individual applications for expansions of the urban boundary outside of the 5-year Comprehensive review cycle. To their credit they have set fairly onerous conditions and stiff fees for proponents to avail themselves of this new provision. This is in line with the GA’s stated position on this policy change when it was first proposed.
Rural Summit
The rural Councillors have for the last year been holding local workshops on the form and content of a Rural Summit, something which was last held over 10 years ago. The Rural Summit will be held on November 2 at Sir Robert Borden High School in Nepean. Some members will be attending.
Site Alteration By-Law
The revised Site Alteration By-law was passed on October 16. Despite staff’s initial recommendations and our representations in support, the By-law has in fact been weakened by reducing the limit of peri-urban area, the only rural area where the By-law applies, to 1 km from urban boundary from 2 km in the original version of the By-law. The proposal to extend its natural environment protection provisions to the rural area was defeated.
1329
In a bid to accelerate the processing of zoning applications, the City has proposed to delegate the approval of the minor zoning amendments to staff. An OPA to define “minor zoning amendments” is being drawn up. Following a discussion, members concluded that there was likely no need for the GA to make representations on this issue.

Threats and Opportunities

MAJOR URBAN
NCC Parkways
The GA provided a detailed submission to the NCC’s request for feedback to the draft Parkways Planning and Design Guidelines they published. Many thanks to member Arto Keklikian for his diligence in preparing this response.
Alta Vista Transportation Corridor
A campaign led by a group associated with Carleton University, and a separate one sponsored by Councillor Menard, have been launched to remove from the Transportation Master Plan a proposed new road through AltaVista greenspace. This is a very old proposal (it was one of the triggers for the founding of the Greenspace Alliance in 1997) that will just not die. We agreed to support the opposition to this transportation corridor and ramp up our own advocacy against it as an idea whose time has passed.
RURAL
Conservation Authority lands
Paul has written to the three local Conservation Authorities to enquire on the status of their review of conservations lands, as per direction given by the Provincial government. No reply has yet been received.
Gatineau Park
We have learned that a bill to protect Gatineau Park has been introduced in the Senate. Quebec Senator Rosa Galvez, supported by Pontiac Liberal MP Sophie Chatel, introduced a Bill S-289 to further protect Gatineau Park and strengthen collaboration with the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation. While this is good news, members were skeptical as to whether this would lead to any real change as many similar attempts have floundered in the past. Still, this is a development worth following.
OTHER
Macoun Marsh
Iola updated the group on rehabilitation work on the Macoun Marsh being undertaken by Beechwood Cemetery, which owns the land. There was concern locally that they were destroying the marsh but it seems that this was a misperception. We will follow this development to ensure the marsh is preserved.
Champlain Park Oaks
We learned through past member Daniel Buckles in Toronto that an ancient bur oak in Champlain Park was in danger of being removed due to a proposed new infill build. Local residents were alerted and city officials contacted but before anyone could do anything, this Confederation era heritage tree was felled. It is a grievous loss, which occurred despite the Tree Protection By-law being fully applied. In the end, meeting all zoning requirements trumps the preservation of a distinctive tree, even a heritage tree such as this one. There is a need to reexamine this bylaw in regards to heritage trees. There was a commitment to do so at the time of the development of the Urban Forest Management Plan, which has not yet been fulfilled.

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