Government will support bill to protect Gatineau Park — with conditions

After a long line of failed attempts to strengthen legal protections for a “treasure” of the National Capital Region, the government intends to support a private member’s bill aiming to define and protect Gatineau Park — but only if certain changes are made.

Public Works Minister Joël Lightbound, whose mandate includes overseeing the National Capital Commission (NCC), supports the bill, with amendments.

“We have a collective responsibility to ensure this park is protected and well managed,” he said at a Senate committee meeting Tuesday, Oct. 20.

“It’s a treasure that we have here.”

Bill S-229, sponsored by Independent Senator Rosa Galvez, seeks to establish the boundaries of Gatineau Park and prohibit the sale of public lands located within those boundaries. It would also prioritize “ecological integrity” in how the NCC manages the park and allow the federal cabinet to create regulations and set fees related to the park.

Private member’s bills rarely become law as they’re introduced by parliamentarians who aren’t in cabinet.

Galvez and the bill’s co-author Liberal MP Sophie Chatel have been trying for years to pass legal protections for the park.

Supporters, including environmental groups and the chief of Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg, say the proposed legislation would prevent the park from shrinking any further, after being eroded for decades by development.

Their previous attempt died on the order paper when Parliament was dissolved ahead of the 2025 federal election. That attempt, in turn, followed 13 earlier efforts between 2005 and 2013 to amend the National Capital Act — a law that established the NCC — specifically to protect Gatineau Park.

Most of those bills were private member’s bills brought forward by NDP legislators, though the Conservative government under former prime minister Stephen Harper also made a failed attempt in 2014.

At the Senate hearing Tuesday, Lightbound gave an overview of the government’s proposed amendments, which are still being finalized and haven’t yet been shared with senators studying the bill.

First, he said the bill should only apply to federal lands within the park (amounting to about 86 per cent of the park’s total area), while excluding provincial, municipal and private lands.

“To my mind, it’s a matter of being clear,” he said.

Second, certain leases, easements and other limited rights needed for roads, utilities and visitor services would need to be maintained.

And finally, rather than an outright prohibition on the sale of public lands located within the park, Lightbound proposed a “no net loss principle.”

“As a general rule, any land removed from the park should be replaced by an equal or greater area,” he said. “A smaller area could be considered only if it makes a greater contribution to ecological integrity.”

In response to questions from senators, NCC CEO Tobi Nussbaum further explained that the concept of “no net loss” aims to preserve the NCC’s ability to “transact with a partner” to acquire a larger or different parcel of land in exchange for a portion of Gatineau Park, should the need arise.

As Lightbound put it: “It gives us the flexibility while achieving the objective of not being in a straitjacket where you can’t do anything, even if public interest warrants it.”

Gatineau Park is one of the most popular parks in Canada, with an estimated 2.6 million annual visitors.

Despite its popularity, the park’s governance structure under the NCC does not provide the same legal protections as national parks, leaving it open to development.

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