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A volunteer group striving to designate the Ottawa River a national heritage site believes its cause is being thwarted for partisan reasons.
Larry Graham, chairman of the Ottawa River Heritage Designation Committee, said this week there is a feeling among the members that designation is being delayed at the federal level because it was initiated by former MP Len Hopkins, a Liberal.
“The Ottawa River is not a Liberal river. It is not a Conservative river. It is not an NDP river. It is a Canadian river,” said Mr. Graham, who succeeded Mr. Hopkins as committee chairman after he passed away last year.
The committee feels the project will die if the designation proposal is not placed before the Canadian Heritage Rivers System’s board of directors for consideration.
The board will be holding its annual meeting next month in Calgary. With the designation receiving provincial approval, it only requires federal environment minister John Baird’s signature.
However, there is confusion as to which office currently holds the nomination forms. During a CBC Radio interview conducted this past Monday morning with committee volunteer Fred Blackstein, the reporter revealed that the CBC had contacted Mr. Baird’s office and was told the file had been referred back to Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MP Cheryl Gallant.
After hearing the broadcast, Mr. Graham went to Ms. Gallant’s Pembroke office to ascertain the status of the proposal. He followed this up with a phone call where he made inquiries with a staff member.
“Based on this radio broadcast, I cannot believe that the Ottawa River designation has become a partisan issue,” said Mr. Graham.
A spokesman for Mr. Baird’s office told The Daily Observer the matter has been brought before the minister. They did not clarify if they still had the nomination forms.
“There are some concerns that have been brought forward to the minister by the MP for the area,” Eric Richer, press secretary for the Office of the Minister of the Environment, said. “We are currently looking into them, and will make a decision once we have them resolved.”
While he is hoping this is not the case, Mr. Graham felt the fact that Mr. Hopkins was a Liberal may be a factor in the foot dragging that appears to be going on. The 100-member committee was formed in 2002 and worked to ensure the river met all prerequisites set out by the Canadian Heritage Rivers System, which falls under Parks Canada. “Len Hopkins initiated this project in his retirement,” he said. “He loved this country and he loved this river and I cannot believe that it has come to this.”
The formal nomination papers were submitted to the Canadian Heritage Rivers technical planning committee in February, 2006 by Mr. Hopkins. It has passed every administrative hurdle since.
Concerned that the deadline for approval was closing fast, Mr. Graham led a delegation on Aug. 20, 2007 to meet with Mr. Baird in Ottawa.
The minister assured it the nomination would be signed off within 60 days.
Subsequently, when that deadline passed, Mr. Graham was informed by Ms. Gallant that final approval was not far off.
What perplexes the committee is that the rivers which feed into the Ottawa, namely the French, Rideau and Mattawa rivers, already enjoy heritage status. However, such a title has eluded the 1,271 kilometre Ottawa, the second largest river in Eastern Canada.
schase@thedailyobserver.ca
Article ID# 971961