Property Owners Must Be Told Impact of Heritage Designation Declares MP Gallant

May 01, 2008

Ottawa, Ontario - Cheryl Gallant, MP Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, invites all individuals with an interest in the future of the Ottawa River being designated as a "Heritage River" in the Canada Heritage Rivers System to contact the MP with their views.

"I have recently indicated my support to the Minister of the Environment to nominate the Ottawa River as a Canadian Heritage River on the condition that outstanding ambiguities be addressed during the year following the nomination, but prior to the actual designation. Nomination is the next step prior to a river being designated a heritage river. I wish to stress to my constituents that now is the time to come forward. Once the river obtains the title it will be too late," remarked MP Cheryl Gallant.

"A number of concerns have been expressed to me which I have been following upon. The biggest concern I have is that most individuals, including property owners along the Ottawa River, have no idea what the designation will mean or how it will affect their rights to use and enjoy their private property.

"For example, the Town of Petawawa has a proposal to build a powerhouse on an Ottawa River tributary as does the Town of Renfrew. Will these communities be allowed to continue with these projects? I am told that one of the reasons the Province of Quebec was not interested in pursuing heritage river status for the Ottawa River was because it did not want to restrict the possibility of future hydro power development on the Ottawa or in its watershed. Should we on the Ontario side of the river have similar concerns? The same could be said for a hotel or resort development. As it now stands today, if a resort was prevented from building in Renfrew County, there will be no such restriction to build on the Quebec side of the river if the designation goes through," observed MP Gallant.

"In my letter to the Minister, I congratulated his efforts in contacting Quebec provincial counterpart Line Beauchamp, Quebec Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, and the efforts by our colleague, the Hon. Lawrence Cannon, MP for Pontiac, in contacting Benoit Pelletier, Quebec's Minister for the Outaouais, in requesting the support of the Quebec government for the potential designation of the Ottawa River as a Canadian Heritage river.

It is interesting to note that critics of the designation have stated that "a management strategy (of the Ottawa River) that does not include Quebec would make the designation meaningless," stated Cheryl Gallant, MP.

"There is a real opportunity to demonstrate to the people of Quebec, ‘co-operative federalism.’ I see the time between nomination and designation as a chance to develop grassroots federalism among the Quebec residents of the Ottawa Valley. This kind of local support will be something the politicians in Quebec City will not be able to ignore," concluded MP Gallant.