The Honourable Steven Guilbeault
Fontaine Building 12th floor
200 Sacré-Coeur Blvd
Gatineau QC K1A 0H3
Dear Minister Guilbeault,
I am writing on behalf of the Glebe Community Association in Ottawa in support of the request that you designate the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus Project under subsection 9(1) of the Impact Assessment Act. I understand that our neighbours in the Dow’s Lake Residents
Association have already made a similar request. The Glebe Community Association is supportive of a new world-class hospital for eastern Ontario, Western Quebec and Nunavut in Ottawa. The site chosen for the new hospital will have an indelible environmental footprint at a time when our country faces ever increasing environmental and climate challenges. The project is a major development on federal lands (50 acres) resting on unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin territory, deserving of a full and comprehensive environmental impact assessment accompanied by full consultation with the Algonquin leaders.
The Glebe Community Association would like to bring the following concerns to your attention:
- The Central Experimental Farm (CEF) and Dow’s Lake are environmentally sensitive, ecologically and heritage-rich areas.
- The green space is needed to offset the growing heat island and reduce pollution in the Preston-Carling District, a high priority target for intensification (including multiple high-rise towers).
- The project has multiple buildings plus extensive parking, including a four-level above ground garage for 2,500 cars and surface parking for 600 cars; this has the potential to cause adverse effects on the natural environment of the CEF and Dow’s Lake. A substantial number of the 524 mature trees to be cut down at the site are being removed to accommodate the parking.
- A “federal lands” assessment under s. 82 of the Impact Assessment Act was triggered on November 15, 2021 for the hospital project (https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/proj/83161). To date, two environmental impact statements have been published in May 2021 and October 2021 . These documents do not constitute a full environmental impact assessment; they are minor assessments into whether there will be adverse environmental effects. In fact, Section 5.1 of the May 2021 document recommends a detailed impact assessment. (“This report has documented the existing conditions in the vicinity of the New Civic Development. Detailed impact assessments and mitigation strategies should be developed, if required, at a later stage in the project”.) Furthermore, Section 6 recommends more studies are needed with respect to species at risk, bats, snakes and migratory birds. The Glebe Community Association urges the Impact Assessment Agency to take into consideration the concerns raised above, and to designate the project for a full environmental impact assessment. There is no better time to act than now, given that Phase 2 (construction of the parking garage) is due to start in March 2022.
Respectfully yours,
Laura Smith,
President, Glebe Community Association
CC: Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau; Parks Canada President
and CEO Ron Hallman; Heritage Minister Hon. Pablo Rodríguez; Ontario Premier Doug Ford;
Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott; and City of Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson.