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The group striving to get the Ottawa River declared a national historic site claims the nomination is being held up by MP Cheryl Gallant’s office.
The Ottawa River Heritage Designation Committee is close to conceding defeat after exhausting all attempts to secure federal Environment Minister John Baird’s signature on a nomination document that must reach Parks Canada officials within the next few days.
“The clock is ticking,” the committee’s chair, Larry Graham, said Friday. “The alarm that the committee has sounded in the community has now come to land squarely back at our local MP’s office.”
Last week, Mr. Graham had sought to meet with the Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MP to ascertain the status of the nomination and address any concerns she might have. County Warden Janice Visneskie and Petawawa Mayor Bob Sweet had also requested a meeting. Alistair Baird, an official with the county’s economic development department, told Mr. Graham that attempts to broker a meeting between the warden and Ms. Gallant had proven unsuccessful. The timeline for the Ottawa River to gain heritage status is tight. The Canadian Heritage Rivers Board of Governors convenes its annual general meeting June 9 in the Yukon Territory. However, nominating documents must be submitted to officials weeks in advance of that session.
“It’s about to collapse,” said Mr. Graham, who has made several attempts to reach Ms. Gallant. “We’re at the eleventh hour. The fact it is dying on her doorstep is disgusting.”
Echoing the sentiments of many on his committee, Mr. Graham again repeated the assertion that the project is being blocked for partisan reasons because it was initiated by the late Len Hopkins, a former Liberal MP. When the committee kicked off its efforts in 2003, Mr. Hopkins chaired the committee and presented the project’s technical submissions to Parks Canada in February, 2006.
When they accepted the nomination, that should have cleared the last major hurdle for designation. With the federal government signing off on the recommendation, it could then head for final approval by the 15-member board of governors.
A spokesman for Mr. Baird’s office, Eric Richer, could not say what was the nomination’s current status, adding the media would be told if the minister had an announcement to make.
“Our hope was that the seemingly stalled nomination process hadn’t been stalled for partisan reasons,” said Mr. Graham. “It has become obvious that it has, and political forces are at work here. I cannot believe that our local MP believes it’s more important to be anti-Liberal than Canadian.”
Mayor Sweet said he’s concerned the project will die if it does not receive approval this year.
“If it doesn’t get done soon, we’re in a pile of trouble,” Mayor Sweet said from Oakville Friday.
He added he doesn’t know what concerns have been raised by the MP or if Mr. Baird intends to sign the document. He added approval from the Quebec side of the river is not an issue as the province has raised no objections to the designation.
“What is holding this up?” he asked. “It’s a straightforward win-win situation. Designation would be a huge benefit to the county and Canada.”
The committee believes Mr. Baird is not against signing the nomination and fully supports designation, as was indicated in a April 15 Ottawa Citizen column which quoted the minister’s staffers as saying he was “excited” about the project. Committee members met Mr. Baird last August in Ottawa and were told the nomination would be signed within 60 days. Earlier this month, Warden Visneskie wrote a letter to the minister imploring him to approve the designation.
Ms. Gallant’s office was contacted for comment late Friday. No response was received.
schase@thedailyobserver.ca
Article ID# 1003097