LETTER

 

------  Why Gatineau Park is not a national park ...

 

Meech Lake swimmers who remember Gatineau Park Director Christie Spence marching onto Blanchet Beach with constables, last summer, will relish another story elsewhere in the park where the NCC bends over backwards, to accommodate private property interests at the expense of public enjoyment and ecological protection.

In September 2020, bridge construction took place near lac la Pêche in the Municipality of Pontiac. The problem was self-evident: construction was in a conservation park, on NCC property, deep in the habitat of the species-at-risk Blanding’s turtle, “in a constant or intermittent watercourse” protected by federal and provincial laws. 

The previous year, in 2019, stream ice had severely damaged the bridge leading to the only private property at lac la Pêche. Although reconstruction was for the sole benefit of the resident, the bridge was unusable and had to be repaired, if the private owner were to continue enjoying his private property at public expense. 

There are guidelines, policies and procedures for such things. But all the laws, bylaws and regulations were flouted: no building permit was issued; no provincial certificate of authorization was obtained; no environmental impact assessment was carried out; no Federal Land Use Approval was adopted by the NCC board; no public consultations were held. 

Moreover, Park Director Christie Spence told representatives of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society on October 21 that there was nothing she could do to enforce the Species at Risk Act to protect the nesting site of the Blanding's turtle. I guess she also told her bosses  there was nothing she could do to ensure respect for federal, provincial and municipal laws and bylaws at the "turtle bridge"... 

Section 22 of Quebec's Environment Act says that “no one may erect or alter any structure, carry out any works or projects (...) in a constant or intermittent watercourse, a lake, pond, marsh, swamp or bog, unless he first obtains a certificate of authorization from the Minister.” The Act also says an environmental impact assessment must take place before any certificate of authorization is issued...

However, laws, bylaws and regulations don’t apply in Gatineau Park, because the NCC feels that enforcing them might bother residents. Just like all those at Meech Lake swimmers hooting and hollering before sunrise.

Another example of where a park paid for by the many, is managed for the exclusive peace and quiet and pleasure of the few... 

Jean-Paul Murray 

Chelsea