Gatineau Park - History and Politics

History and Politics

Created in 1938, Gatineau is the only federal park not protected by the National Parks Act, largely as a result of former Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's caution, fear of criticism, and desire for privacy.

Gatineau Park was not only the first national park advocated for Quebec, it was also intended as the first one outside the Rocky Mountains. As well, it was to be the first national park created by the first parks service in the world, the Dominion Parks Branch.

On 3 December 1913, Dominion Parks Commissioner James B. Harkin wrote to Deputy Minister of the Interior William Cory, arguing for the creation of a nation-wide system of parks, the first of which was to be Gatineau Park. In his memo, Harkin said:

"The East has no national parks like those in the Rockies, and it is proposed that the country develop a broader scheme of parks than exists in any other country Bringing into effect the proposed Gatineau Park would, I think, most easily commence this scheme."

A few months later, on Cory's suggestion, Harkin wrote Quebec Minister of Mines and Forests Charles Devlin inquiring whether he would help establish a national park in the Gatineau district. Although provincial officials wrote back that the matter would receive their minister's immediate attention, Devlin died before he could follow up on Harkin's request, and no further response was ever received. With the First World War intervening shortly thereafter, the government of Canada had to tend to more pressing matters.

On 7 April 1927, the idea of creating a Gatineau national park was again raised in the House of Commons, where MPs considered a bill to create the Federal District Commission, which would build parks and parkways on both sides of the Ottawa River. During debate, however, Conservative MP John Edwards accused Prime Minister King of wanting to create a park around his Kingsmere property and ease access to it by building a parkway. Though he denied the charge, the criticism would shape King's subsequent decisions regarding the park.

It would take another eleven years for the park to be created in embryonic form on 1 July 1938, as a result of efforts by Percy Sparks of the Federal Woodlands Preservation League. By choosing to create the park through gradual property acquisition, the King government allowed private property to continue existing in Gatineau Park—a situation that has prevented the park from becoming a national park.

Today, the National Capital Commission manages the park, along with all federal lands and buildings in Canada's National Capital Region. Its policies on park boundaries, land management and ownership, as well as on residential construction in the park, have been the subject of controversy.

To address these issues, several private members’ bills have been introduced in the Senate and House of Commons since 2005. The federal government also tabled its own Gatineau Park legislation in June 2009 and April 2010. None of the bills tabled so far has been enacted into law.

The latest government legislation on the subject, Bill C-20, was reported back to the House of Commons on November 15, 2010. However, it died on the Order Paper before it could be given third reading when the 40th parliament was dissolved.

In the fall of 2010, a controversy broke out in the press pertaining to the rehabilitation of Trail no. 1 in Gatineau Park. According to published reports, the contractor hired by the NCC had laced the trail with broken glass and other debris; the NCC reacted to this news by hiring an engineering firm to study the problem. Its report concluded that garbage spread along the trail was within acceptable standards, a conclusion that park advocates met with scepticism. The NCC also confirmed staff for the contractor were not certified in the maintenance of summer trails in the park, as required by their contract.

Building on the work of the predecessor Federal Woodlands Preservation League, the modern-day New Woodlands Preservation League and its Gatineau Park Protection Committee advocate greater public access to the park while opposing residential development inside it.