Re: NCC mulls rock climbing ban in Gatineau Park, Feb. 19

In contemplating a ban on rock climbing in Gatineau Park, the National Capital Commission is displaying mind boggling hypocrisy.

Of course, according to NCC logic, rock climbing does way more damage than the construction of 119 new houses in the park, and the removal of eight square kilometres of parkland, which it has allowed in violation of every park master plan ever written.

I’m sure NCC commissars really believe that rock climbing is way more deleterious to the ecology than the building of houses in the Meech Lake fish habitat, below the water mark, on the lakebed . . . yup, rock climbing sure does more damage to the ecology than using dynamite to clear a patch of Meech Lake shoreline to make way for a new house.

To expose NCC misdeeds in the park and counter misinformation, the Gatineau Park Protection Committee recently created a web site providing in-depth exposé and analysis of NCC shenanigans: www.gatineauparc.ca.

The site includes historical documents relating to the park’s creation and the numerous problems afflicting it.

Besides press releases, there are maps confirming the NCC has misrepresented facts regarding the park’s land mass, legislative proposals to solve the park’s problems, along with a list of all private landowners in the park.

We hope this site – offered in both official languages – will help topple the countless myths and misrepresentations surrounding the park and persuade the government to enact effective and comprehensive protective legislation.

The NCC, not rock climbers, is the greatest threat to the park’s ecology.

Jean-Paul Murray,
Co-chair,
Gatineau Park Protection Committee, Chelsea