NCC - General Updates

[OTSkyline]

I went to this bistro on Friday. Pretty top notch location right across from Parliament and we were pleasantly surprised to catch the Northern Lights Show on Parliament at 10pm (this is the last summer before it closes for a few years for renovations).

Happy they did something with this otherwise underused space and it got quite busy (with tourists) while we were there. I just wish they had a better menu. I find the "Tavern at the.." a much better experience in terms of seating, food & drink options etc.. than the NCC Bistros which are much more bare bones.

[skyscraperaccount]

Originally Posted by SidetrackedSue

Another example of this getting simple things wrong is the edge of the new parking lot at Westboro Beach. I walked by where it butts up against Atlantis Ave today. There were woods there, they've taken out a lot of the trees to build the parking lot. Since there's no access between Atlantis and the parking lot, they have put in a garden barrier with wood chips and some plants and then grown a lovely grass lawn leading up to the paved area.

I'm shaking my head at growing grass there. Ground cover would have been so much more appropriate - for the nearby residents, a wooded area wouldn't have been replaced with a manicured one, and for the NCC, they wouldn't have to maintain it and cut it.

Edit: I just looked it up and the drawings show woods, not manicured lawn on page 106.
https://ncc-website-2.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/Ottawa-River-South-Shore-Riverfront-Park-Plan.pdf

They'll return next year, plant inappropriate saplings that'll struggle to survive for 5 years and then put a dead crow made of tires in their place. Enjoy.

[J.OT13]

Local business owner upset over NCC Bistro near Parliament

Jackie Perez, CTV News Ottawa
Juky 11, 2023

The National Capital Commission's new pop-up bistro across the street from Parliament is drawing the ire of a nearby business owner who says opening it is bad for nearby businesses still struggling to recover from the pandemic.

It's a place to grab a bite or a drink in a scenic spot. Rafaela Reis and her friends had a coffee break at the new outdoor cafe located just steps away from Parliament Hill Monday.

“A friend of us told us it was a nice place and also because we have a good view here,” said the tourist from Brazil, sitting on the patio of the latest bistro from the NCC.

But Jason Komendat, the owner of Ottawa Bike Café on nearby Sparks Street, says that new bistro is taking away sales.

“Every single person that sits down in that bistro is someone that may have sat down at one of our businesses,” he said. “It was quite shocking this has appeared a couple minutes away from five cafés that have been on Sparks Street. Struggling through COVID, the occupation and, challenges with tourism."

A lack of foot traffic along Sparks Street and downtown has been an ongoing issue since the pandemic and many businesses are trying to keep up with property taxes, rent and government CEBA loans.

The NCC is also trying to breathe life into the area. In an email to CTV News Ottawa, it states the bistro is part of a pilot project to animate Wellington Street this summer.

"This is a great opportunity to offer a unique experience to visitors, tourists, and residents right in front of Parliament," the NCC said. The operator in charge of food and beverages on site, Moulin de Provence, is a member of the Sparks Street BIA and was selected through a competitive process.

Those visiting the area, like Adam Eaton, say more business means more options for those looking for a bite.

“Just to walk in areas you wouldn't think anything would be there. It's always nice to see new things.”

But Komendat, who opened his cafe in 2021, says the direct competition is just poor timing.

“They have created another level of competition for us by doing that fitup,” he said.

https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/local-business-owner-upset-over-ncc-bistro-near-parliament-1.6474350

[rocketphish]

Our wacky NCC once floated a plan to market Ottawa as a 'wild' city
No longer would the nation's capital be seen as a boring, sleepy place full of public servants — not if our hip federal minders could prevail with this campaign.

Ken Rubin
Published Sep 06, 2023 • Last updated 3 hours ago • 3 minute read

The National Capital Commission is always looking for new ways to promote and brand its efforts. But it outdid itself back in 2021, according to recently obtained NCC documents.

At the time, it hired MediaPlus, at a cost of just over $19,000, to make pilot video storyboards portraying Ottawa as “the wild capital” and “your wild capital.”

Yes, really.

The consultants created a few short prototype storyboards that feebly attempted to show Ottawa as “wild.”

There were shots of the giant spider outside the National Gallery, the downtown zipline from Ontario to Quebec at Zibi, some wildlife, goings-on such as Parliament Hill protests, and snippets of courtyards, monuments and bistros.

Somehow, all of this was meant to portray the capital and its NCC minders as “wild” — to counter the clips also inserted in the storyboard showing the time Prince Philip once called Ottawa “a backwater” and reminding us that the late columnist Allen Fotheringham said Ottawa was “the town that fun forgot.”

No longer would Ottawa be a boring, sleepy place full of public servants — not if the hip NCC could prevail with this campaign.

Mind you, when I recently viewed the short videos on this initiative, the NCC access-to-information officers had redacted the parts where some ordinary people had been approached and filmed. A clip featuring NCC board members was not cut. Fun comments and transparency just aren’t compatible.

One caution expressed by the NCC officials viewing the first-draft video was to not have the word “wild” next to images of Indigenous Peoples. Right. They also said the draft video needed “more soaring imagery” and maybe upbeat background music such as Stevie Wonder’s “Uptight, Everything is Alright.”

The idea was to move away from the normal “NCC-centric brand promise” and give the NCC a “more user-centric and experimental focused brand promise.” It was meant “to resonate with (the) public’s emotions,” enhancing its dialogue with the public “to reflect a corporation (that) is not (to be) the expected unresponsive and bureaucratic crown corp.”

Somehow, the commission thought this could “distance the NCC from (being) the stereotypical government agency to better reflect a corporation that is in tune with its users and their needs, while keeping a tone that reflects both its values and brand promise.”

This is not the first time the NCC has gone goofy.

It looked at bringing a zip-line and or gondoliers to Gatineau Park as part of a fantasy park entertainment makeover, and also thought about Confederation Boulevard as a locale where the pavement could be painted red, while keeping tax payers in the black.

Normally, the NCC’s “wild side” is limited to drawing up esoteric design plans and dreaming up more monuments. Its more unforgiving wild side includes sometimes making its public lands available to private developers, at, say, LeBreton Flats, and over-charging in its rents.

In this case, needless to say, the whole branding exercise flopped. As one official put it, “Wild is not the word that comes to mind when thinking
of our Capital.” Exactly.

The NCC Board weighed in with more tact: “While the (NCC) Board appreciated the effort to be more modern and creative with our branding exercise, the wild capital theme did not resonate with members seeing it (and) was not expressively how the public viewed the capital, nor how they viewed the NCC.”

An understatement brought to you from our capital’s federal minders.


Ken Rubin follows the NCC alternate universe and is reachable at kenrubin.ca

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/rubin-...d-a-plan-to-market-ottawa-as-a-wild-city

[rocketphish]

NCC interested in national urban park in Ottawa
Formal expression of interest has been made, but no statement of collaboration signed yet

Kristy Nease · CBC News
Posted: Sep 15, 2023 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

The National Capital Commission (NCC) is formally interested in establishing a national urban park in Ottawa, CBC News has learned.

Exactly where is not yet clear. In documents obtained by CBC this week under access to information legislation, all references to a specific possible location have been redacted.

In a statement Wednesday, the NCC would say only that it's in Ottawa.

Land currently owned or controlled and managed by the NCC in Ottawa includes the Greenbelt encircling the inner urban area, much of the Ottawa River shoreline from Britannia to Orléans, lands along the Rideau Canal, and smaller green spaces like McCarthy Woods, Hampton Woods, Vincent Massey Park and Confederation Park downtown.

Urban parks improve water, soil and air quality, reduce temperature, noise and pollution, and improve quality of life and well-being for residents, Parks Canada says.

The federal government is trying to create a network of such parks across the country. Potential sites must conserve nature, connect people with it and help reconcile with Indigenous peoples.

Work is already underway on six sites in Winnipeg, Halifax, Windsor, Ont., and Saskatchewan, and around Edmonton and Victoria. The current goal is 15 such parks by 2030, modelled after the first created in 2015 in Toronto — the Rouge.

It's unclear from the documents exactly when discussions began about a national urban park in Ottawa.

In a March email from NCC strategic planning director James Yang to Parks Canada about starting discussions, Yang mentioned the Greenbelt as an example of green space the NCC protects and preserves.

He also wrote that there's "a great amount of alignment and consistency between NCC's mandate and the goals of the National Urban Parks Program, which we would like to work with you and leverage."

Undated and unsigned pages of handwritten NCC notes from sometime before Jan. 14 state that such a park would be "another shield to help us protect against pressures, municipal developments, etc."

The "objective is to give it another layer of [protection]," the notes continue.

The NCC's long-range planning and design department was asked to weigh in on the idea. In April, it said the program provides "risks and opportunities" for the NCC, according to the documents obtained.

Implementing such a park "poses many questions of governance, management, reporting, and accountability," and would be "a departure from current practices," the department's response states.

Some geographical limit and land use considerations were redacted.

One possible concern includes that all land/water uses, infrastructure projects or development would have to be "consistent with the objectives of the park" or be "vital to the function of the urban area."

Another issue is that "there is no dedicated role of representation for indigenous peoples in the NCC's governance structure," meaning that "some new form of oversight" for park lands would have to be created, according to the department.

A central tenet of the national urban park program is Indigenous reconciliation, which Parks Canada says will be achieved by recognizing and respecting Indigenous rights, fostering Indigenous stewardship and leadership, sustainable harvesting/gathering and traditional uses, training and career opportunities and more.

The next step in the process would be signing a statement of collaboration with Parks Canada. But nearly five months after the NCC's official expression of interest, the parties aren't there yet, according to Wednesday's statement from the NCC.

"More discussions with stakeholders and partners will be required should this proposal progress further," the NCC said.

After a statement of collaboration, there would be a pre-feasibility stage, a planning stage, a designation stage and finally, implementation.

If a park on NCC land goes ahead, it would be the first federal property to become a national urban park, the released documents show.

CBC reached out to Parks Canada, but has not yet received a response.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/na...awa-ncc-expression-of-interest-1.6966359

[Williamoforange]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

NCC interested in national urban park in Ottawa
Formal expression of interest has been made, but no statement of collaboration signed yet

Kristy Nease · CBC News
Posted: Sep 15, 2023 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

The National Capital Commission (NCC) is formally interested in establishing a national urban park in Ottawa, CBC News has learned.

Exactly where is not yet clear. In documents obtained by CBC this week under access to information legislation, all references to a specific possible location have been redacted.

In a statement Wednesday, the NCC would say only that it's in Ottawa.

Land currently owned or controlled and managed by the NCC in Ottawa includes the Greenbelt encircling the inner urban area, much of the Ottawa River shoreline from Britannia to Orléans, lands along the Rideau Canal, and smaller green spaces like McCarthy Woods, Hampton Woods, Vincent Massey Park and Confederation Park downtown.

Urban parks improve water, soil and air quality, reduce temperature, noise and pollution, and improve quality of life and well-being for residents, Parks Canada says.

The federal government is trying to create a network of such parks across the country. Potential sites must conserve nature, connect people with it and help reconcile with Indigenous peoples.

Work is already underway on six sites in Winnipeg, Halifax, Windsor, Ont., and Saskatchewan, and around Edmonton and Victoria. The current goal is 15 such parks by 2030, modelled after the first created in 2015 in Toronto — the Rouge.

It's unclear from the documents exactly when discussions began about a national urban park in Ottawa.

In a March email from NCC strategic planning director James Yang to Parks Canada about starting discussions, Yang mentioned the Greenbelt as an example of green space the NCC protects and preserves.

He also wrote that there's "a great amount of alignment and consistency between NCC's mandate and the goals of the National Urban Parks Program, which we would like to work with you and leverage."

Undated and unsigned pages of handwritten NCC notes from sometime before Jan. 14 state that such a park would be "another shield to help us protect against pressures, municipal developments, etc."

The "objective is to give it another layer of [protection]," the notes continue.

The NCC's long-range planning and design department was asked to weigh in on the idea. In April, it said the program provides "risks and opportunities" for the NCC, according to the documents obtained.

Implementing such a park "poses many questions of governance, management, reporting, and accountability," and would be "a departure from current practices," the department's response states.

Some geographical limit and land use considerations were redacted.

One possible concern includes that all land/water uses, infrastructure projects or development would have to be "consistent with the objectives of the park" or be "vital to the function of the urban area."

Another issue is that "there is no dedicated role of representation for indigenous peoples in the NCC's governance structure," meaning that "some new form of oversight" for park lands would have to be created, according to the department.

A central tenet of the national urban park program is Indigenous reconciliation, which Parks Canada says will be achieved by recognizing and respecting Indigenous rights, fostering Indigenous stewardship and leadership, sustainable harvesting/gathering and traditional uses, training and career opportunities and more.

The next step in the process would be signing a statement of collaboration with Parks Canada. But nearly five months after the NCC's official expression of interest, the parties aren't there yet, according to Wednesday's statement from the NCC.

"More discussions with stakeholders and partners will be required should this proposal progress further," the NCC said.

After a statement of collaboration, there would be a pre-feasibility stage, a planning stage, a designation stage and finally, implementation.

If a park on NCC land goes ahead, it would be the first federal property to become a national urban park, the released documents show.

CBC reached out to Parks Canada, but has not yet received a response.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/na...awa-ncc-expression-of-interest-1.6966359

Slapping an Urban park label on an existing Urban park isn't going to create any new benefits to the city of Ottawa that are being suggested here.

The only change it will bring is that the city of Ottawa might finally count NCC parks as Parkland in there Parkland calculations. (They currently don't, afaik)

[J.OT13]

I think Gatineau Park should be first on the list. If the Greenbelt is part of the discussion, then we should be carful what's included and what's not. The others mentioned are all quite small and already have nearly bullet proof protections.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Williamoforange

The only change it will bring is that the city of Ottawa might finally count NCC parks as Parkland in there Parkland calculations. (They currently don't, afaik)

The only change it will bring is it will deliver yet another cudgel to the same NIMBYists who oppose strangers being able to walk up and buy and eat food on a strip of grass next to the canal, and who have to be revived with smelling salts if you propose running *transit* on one of their precious, precious ScEnIc PaRkWaYs.

[huntclub]

They should be turning the land of the experimental farm into a big urban park. A big empty field in the middle of a city is useless.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by huntclub

They should be turning the land of the experimental farm into a big urban park. A big empty field in the middle of a city is useless.

But it's not big and empty. If you want it to be useful, it's got a use now. Parkification would make it less useful.

[huntclub]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

But it's not big and empty. If you want it to be useful, it's got a use now. Parkification would make it less useful.

It is a big empty field in the core of a city. We don’t need a farm in a piece of land next to a major future hospital. Should be housing and a big urban park. I see more people walking there dogs through the field then I ever see any one farming.

[vtecyo]

I think we need to start a poll about where we should add a national urban park(s) - or just massively improve existing ones.

Off the top of my head - these seem like the most centrally located and massively underutilized "green spaces".

• Most of the Ottawa river waterfront - both sides of the river - both east and west of downtown.
• Rideau river east shore, south of Hurdman all the way to Bronson/Vincent Massey park (I'd like them to excavate the old landfills at Hurdman)
• Central Experimental Farm fields. (Assuming they move research elsewhere, probably out to the greenbelt. I wouldn't touch the Arboretum or Agriculture museum, but the patch of land along the Canal south west of the locks at Carleton is pretty useless right now.)

If we include the greenbelt as well...

• Any part of the greenbelt reasonably close to a major transit line - current or future
• Everything north of Bells Corners
• Green's creek/Pineview Golf Course
• Everything between the 416 and the Rideau river north of Barrhaven

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by huntclub

It is a big empty field in the core of a city. We don’t need a farm in a piece of land next to a major future hospital. Should be housing and a big urban park. I see more people walking there dogs through the field then I ever see any one farming.

We have a thread for this debate over here:
https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=226143

and the subject also came up more recently here:
https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=248464

[Williamoforange]

What definition of park are we using here?

Are we talking an active usable park with features that bring people to the park to use (beach, sports fields, playgrounds, and etc), or are talking about greenspace (grass/trees, etc) with paths and benches that people walk through to a destination.

Cause if it's the former uhunia is correct parkification would make the CEF less useful.

Ottawa already has enough of the latter and doesn't need more, and declaring these areas like the river edges, Greenbelt and etc to be a Urban park in keeping with the latter definition isn't going to get us anything new or better then what we already have, but will severely restrict the land use for the former.

[J.OT13]

To me, these "Urban National Parks" are naturalized areas near big cities, like Rouge Park near Toronto. Recreational trails, maybe beaches, but not playgrounds, skate parks, sports fields. Gatineau Park, Mer Bleue come to mind in Ottawa, Stanley Park in Vancouver, not Confederation or Vincent Massey. This title would restrict development and improvements, so you don't want to slap this anywhere near the waterways that desperately need a rethink.

[vtecyo]

Yeah - to me a national urban park has something in it that's worth visiting - something genuinely unique on a national level.

We have plenty of plain parks with green space - I want to see something like Golden Gate park in San Fransisco. Definitely a park - but filled with a variety of uses, museums, attractions, sports fields etc. Something to attract people at all times of the day and year.

[J.OT13]

NCC Board Meetings are scheduled for this week, but I haven't received any email updates. Anyone know if they were postponed?

[OTownandDown]

I don't understand the semantics of the discussion. Are we trying to unload the green belt to Parks Canada? What are we doing with this? Is it a ploy to download cost to a different department?

My two cents about the CEF is to carve out all the 'shaded' areas of the CEF during the new Carling build-out, and also include all the lands surrounding the hospital. Basically everything north of NCC Scenic Driveway, and East of Prince of Wales.

What ever happened to the Canadensis plan for a Royal Botanic Garden at the Fletcher Garden? During COVID I became acquainted with the Ornamental Gardens at the CEF. The staff there do an excellent job through all season of the year, and the volunteers at the Fletcher garden do almost as good of a job in their little oasis behind the clubhouse.

If its a Rouge-valley style of park we're trying for, the Rideau River East Bank and Ottawa River banks are a great start. However just be aware that the banks of the Rideau River downtown are a cess pool of chemical and physical waste with large plumes of effluent that are carefully managed by pumping groundwater. What do we do with all that if it becomes managed by Parks Canada instead of the City partnering with the NCC?

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

This title would restrict development and improvements, so you don't want to slap this anywhere near the waterways that desperately need a rethink.

There are people who wish to weaponize such a designation and slap it on the waterfronts exactly for that reason.

(See also the World Heritage designation)

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

There are people who wish to weaponize such a designation and slap it on the waterfronts exactly for that reason.

(See also the World Heritage designation)

Considering the NCC has put in a lot of focus in improvement the waterfront, I doubt that's what they have in mind. I trust them over anyone else to make the right decision on what could become a National Urban Park.

That said, if this is an NCC initiative, they'll choose an NCC site. The Experimental Farm is not within their purview, and it's not even a park anyway.

As stated, although not in Ottawa, Gatineau Park absolutely should have a National Park (or National Urban park) designation. It's always under threat from private owners within the park, and the City/Province trying to build roads through it.

Mer Bleue as well is another obvious choice, with the City of Ottawa having all sorts of pointless road infrastructure plans through it.