Let’s make the Rideau River Corridor an urban national park

By Jamie Brougham

Photo: Jamie Brougham

I remember back in the 1980s, when I lived on Glen Avenue, I hardly knew that the Rideau River existed. I did not engage with it, in part because it was not as clean as the public attention was focused on the Rideau Canal with its skating and boat parades–even the Pope had a ride on it. There was little interest in the Rideau River. By contrast today, for the growing numbers of people in the know, the river is every bit as interesting as the Canal. From Mooney’s Bay to the Ottawa River, the river corridor is mostly green with interesting vegetation, wildlife and geographical features. There are bull rushes, flowers, turtles, fish, hunting birds and so many more plants and animals. Parts of the river are fast-moving, while other parts are more still, like lakes; some parts are deep, while you can walk across in other spots. In the middle of our city, with a million inhabitants, it’s astounding that one can still be completely alone on the water, in an absorbing, wide-open space. Want a little drama in your life? Get out on the river when the ice is breaking up, or when the clouds are menacingly low, or when there’s a misty haze early on a summer morning. To facilitate access, the city now put docks in on the west side of the Rideau. With more people paddling, the waterway starts to have that cottagey island feel, as it should, since the land between the river and the Canal is actually an island. It is unique, and its engagement should be facilitated.

Most remain unaware

But like me in the 1980s, most area residents remain unaware of the great environmental, sustainable social resource that is the Rideau River, and that needs to change. If our governments want to do Ottawa a favour, they might designate the whole Rideau River corridor as an urban park, particularly on the east side where there’s less shoreline development. For its part, Parks Canada has declared that it wants to create national urban parks across the country. Sadly, though, the NCC, which controls most of the eastern shoreline, says that its official plan includes nothing with respect to the urban Rideau River corridor. So it is that with the support of several community associations, lovers of the river corridor are advocating for the eastern shore of the Rideau from Mooney’s Bay to the OttawaRiverto beOttawa’sUrbanNational Park. The NCC says it’s willing to work with local communities and partners who may wish to do something with its lands in the capital region. I would argue that Parks Canada is a suitable partner, and an NCC/Parks Canada collaboration would provide a great opportunity to involve local communities in the planning as well.

Achieving a healthy balance

With a national park to enhance our urban natural environment, we can take a huge stride forward to create a better social resource, to help mitigate our city’s heat island effect and to offset the effects of global warming. Residents needn’t travel out of the city to escape the heat-they can enjoy the great outdoors right in the heart of town. Visitors to the capital can enjoy quick access to a naturalized, waterfront park displaying a little of what makes Canada so special. Hurdman “Park,” a reasonably large, forested area in the middle of the corridor, is only a couple LRT stops from downtown and is easily accessed by bike or on foot. A proposed footbridge that would span Clegg Avenue and the park would facilitate a short ride to the Rideau Canal, Flora Footbridge, Lansdowne Parkand historic Bank Street. The pandemic and its aftermath have shown us the importance of achieving a healthy balance between economic, social and natural resources in our communities. Working together to develop a beautiful urban national parkin the heart of Ottawa is a proposal worthy of backing by all of us in this community. You can show your support by writing your elected representative to let them know that a national urban park along the Rideau River Corridor is an idea that you support. Share with them your thoughts on what could make it great and, hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, we can all build a bridge for others to follow.

Jamie Brougham is a Rideau River enthusiast- on it, in it, and on both sides! This article was first The Mainstreeter. It is published here with the consent of the author and of The Mainstreeter.