Governance of Near-Urban Conservation Areas

This book comprehensively describes the history of Gatineau Park, from the first proposals for a national park in the early 1900s to the governance issues in the present period, and it highlights the issues concerning the planning and governance of this unique near-urban ecological area. The 34,500-hectare Gatineau Park is an ecologically diverse wilderness area near the cities of Ottawa (Canada's national capital) and Gatineau. Gatineau Park is planned and managed as the Capital's Conservation Park by the federal government, specifically the National Capital Commission (NCC). This monograph examines numerous governmental and non-governmental actors that are engaged in the governance of a near-urban wilderness area. Unlike Canada's national parks, Gatineau Park's administration involves all three levels of government (federal, provincial, and four municipalities). This book is the first to document the relations among the public and private entities, and is one of onlya handful of studies concerning the governance of Canada's National Capital Region (NCR), which is relatively unique in the literature on federal capitals. Of particular interest to students of governance will be the examination of federal-provincial relations, as the Governments of Canada and Quebec have had a notoriously strained relationship. As the first governance study of Gatineau Park, the monograph will provide readers with insight into the significance of non-state actors, showing the range of competencies that public and private groups deploy in their negotiations with NCC planners, policymakers, park managers, local and federal politicians.

Offers insight into multi-territorial governance issues and challenges Studies the unique role of public and private entities in the planning of Gatineau Park Provides policy-makers and legislators recommendations grounded in empirical evidence on how to better protect this near-urban wilderness area

Auteur

Michael Lait is a CMHC-SSHRC postdoctoral fellow and instructor in the Department of Sociology at Vancouver Island University, where he also teaches in the Global Studies program. He obtained his PhD in Sociology from Carleton University in 2017.

Contenu
Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. National park at the doorstep of the capital.- Chapter 3. The Gatineau Hills clear-cutting controversy.- Chapter 4. The creation of "Gatineau Park".- Chapter 5. Park governance under the Federal District Commission.- Chapter 6. Sparking the private lands issue.- Chapter 7. Park governance under the National Capital Commission.- Chapter 8. An activist Chair governs.- Chapter 9. Planning, expropriations, planning - Chapter 10. The McInnis scare.- Chapter 11. Protecting the park's status quo.- Chapter 12. Ongoing campaign for legislation and issue flare-ups.- Chapter 13. Conclusion