The National Capital Commission’s public consultation on plans for a new civic hospital campus has ended after what the federal agency described as a very high level of community input — more than 7,000 responses.
The NCC’s public input period began Sept. 22 with a panel session at the Canadian War Museum that featured NCC chief executive Mark Kristmanson and was attended by about 400 people. That event was followed by a survey on the NCC’s website that ended Oct. 6 after drawing more than 7,000 responses in just two weeks — about half of them in the final few days.
The NCC was called on to review federal properties for a potential hospital site by Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly — the Liberal government’s response to the huge public outcry that followed the previous Tory government’s announcement that the Central Experimental Farm would be used for the new campus.
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna — whose Ottawa Centre riding encompasses the Experimental Farm — has also urged the NCC’s review of federal sites “through an open and transparent process.”
Local residents were invited to indicate their level of knowledge about the plans to establish a new civic campus to replace the nearly century-old facility between Carling and Ruskin streets, directly across Carling from the farm.
The NCC has identified 12 possible locations for the campus rebuild.
Controversially, four of those sites include parts of the farm — fields that researchers and activists say are critical for important agricultural studies.
The Booth Street Complex — present headquarters of Natural Resources of Canada, located a short distance east of the present civic campus along Carling Avenue — has been identified as a possible location since that group of aging federal buildings is due for redevelopment.
The war museum event made it clear there is strong public opposition to locating the new health complex at the farm.
Katie Ward, past president of the Ottawa chapter of the National Farmer’s Union, said the farm’s value needs to be acknowledged by decision makers, noting that research at the farm — set aside in the 19th century to improve Canadian agriculture — is important in the face of climate change and droughts in the Ottawa Valley.
“I get it, I get the Experimental Farm thing,” Kristmanson said at one point during the Sept. 22 consultation, acknowledging the key point being made by most members of the public.
An evaluation committee is examining the survey results and preparing a recommendation to the NCC’s board of directors for a public meeting on Nov. 24.
NCC spokesperson Jasmine Leduc said the commission is “very pleased with the level of community engagement.”
The survey did not specifically ask respondents what site they would prefer to see used for the hospital campus, though the final two questions offered a chance to provide a open comments.
Survey respondents were asked to rank their priorities when it comes to choosing a location: cost, environment, cultural resources, existing federal facilities, protected views of the capital, compatibility with existing federal plans, integration with transportation and others.
“It’s absolutely crucial that we retain those public research lands that are devoted to drought-resistant . . . and pest-resistant crop research that’s going to help us continue to put food into that hospital cafeteria,” said Ward.
Ward said she knows fellow farmers who have had crops wiped out this year due to an exceptional lack of rainfall, and that any research going towards drought resistance is vital.
Robb Barnes, a managing director with Ecology Ottawa, agreed that the NCC needs to recognize the farm’s importance and prioritize both green space and agricultural research.
“The experimental farm is a site of world-class research. We know that some of the research at the Experimental Farm is connected to the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize,” said Barnes. “The research they’re doing there is very important.”
With some experiments dating back to 1886, Barnes said paving over certain parts of the farm could result in losing the value of data that has been collected over 130 years.
Ward said that if Kristmanson wants the public to move on to other issues, then planners for the new hospital site must take the farm off the table.
The eight proposed sites that don’t fall on Experimental Farm land are spread out across the city, including Tunney’s Pasture — currently a campus of Health Canada buildings and other federal offices — and a site near the intersection of West Hunt Club Road and Highway 416 in west-end Ottawa.
Barnes said either the Booth Street Complex or Tunney’s Pasture would be “vastly better decisions than paving over any green space.”
An evaluation committee has been tasked with examining the survey results and other stakeholder input, and preparing a recommendation to the NCC’s board of directors for a public meeting on Nov. 24.