By Rachel Rowe
The National Capital Commission (NCC) needs to embrace the federal government’s new culture of transparency by opening its board meetings to the public, says Ottawa Centre NDP MP Paul Dewar.
“All meetings conducted by the NCC should be open to public participation and scrutiny,” Dewar told the NCC mandate review panel on Nov. 9, the first of two public consultation sessions.
The federal government appointed the panel, headed by University of Ottawa professor Gilles Paquet, in August to determine if the NCC’s mandate remains relevant to today’s realities.
After collecting all the public input, the panel will make recommendations on the future of the NCC and its mandate, which has not changed in more than 20 years.
The NCC was created in 1959 to act as a steward of all federally-owned land and buildings in the National Capital region.
Currently, its mandate is to assist in the conservation and improvement of the region and to organize and sponsor festivals and activities that enrich Canada’s culture.
“I believe in the NCC and I want to make sure it works,” Dewar says, but the lack of citizen engagement in the review process concerns him. To obtain more public input, Dewar held his own forum earlier this month at the Old Firehall on Sunnyside Avenue to hear the concerns of Ottawa residents about the NCC, which he later presented to the panel.
Dewar, the NCC critic for the NDP, made three recommendations: that the NCC eliminate patronage appointments to its board of directors, shift its mandate to reflect its role as a land steward and impose accountability by opening its meetings to the public.
Jim Watson, Ottawa West-Nepean MPP and former mayor of Ottawa, echoed Dewar’s sentiments, saying that all NCC decisions should be held “under the full glare of the public spotlight.”
“I urge and plead with you to recommend that the government drag the NCC into the 21st century,” Watson said to the panel. To improve accountability, he recommended that the mayors of Ottawa and Gatineau be added to the NCC’s board of directors as ex-officio non-voting members.
Watson also says the NCC should change the composition of its board members. Currently, he says the majority of the board’s 15 members reside outside the National Capital region.
“Why should a resident of Vancouver or Whitehorse make decisions that affect our community?”
Since Ottawa and Gatineau residents are the ones who must live with the consequences of the NCC’s decisions, Watson recommended that at least 50 per cent of its board members be residents of the national capital region.
Watson and Dewar both agree the NCC’s positive contributions to the Ottawa community are tainted by its need for secrecy.
NCC chairman Marcel Beaudry acknowledges the concern over his organization’s lack of transparency, but says the media is to blame for the public’s distrust in the NCC.
“We work hard to make sure the public is aware of our consultations,” Beaudry says. Despite not having open board meetings, “we remain open to what people have to say.”
Beaudry says the media only reports what is negative and never the positive contributions the NCC makes to Canada’s capital, such as the Tulip Festival and Canada Day celebrations.
Beaudry recommended the panel expand the NCC’s power by giving them a larger role in land-use planning. Currently, 10 per cent of National Capital lands are owned by the NCC, however, most is protected greenspace.
Beaudry called for sustainable long-term funding, saying the NCC has experienced funding challenges since federal budget cuts were enacted in the 1980s.
The review panel is expected to table a report with its recommendations to the federal government in December.