The National Capital Commission's corporate plan and real-property optimization strategy: Green space versus monetizing green space

Petition: 490

Issue(s): Corporate social responsibility; Governance; Human/environmental health; Natural resources

Petitioner(s): A Canadian organization

Petitioner location(s): Ottawa, Ontario

Date received: 28 June 2023

Status: Completed - Response(s) to petition received

Summary: The petition refers to the National Capital Commission’s corporate plan and 2019 Real Property Optimization Strategy. The petition states that the strategy’s goal is to allow the commission to identify solutions for potential revenue generation and for the optimized use of its land and potentially other real-estate assets to generate funds for developing the national capital. The petition focuses on priority 3 of the commission’s corporate plan, which includes optimizing land and real-property assets, exploring sponsorship opportunities, increasing flexibility in the commission’s legislative authority, and seeking to reduce the costs associated with owning and managing the regional interest land mass. The petition requests clarification on the commission’s challenges that are causing it to seek more flexibility in its legislative authority. The petition asks what legal powers the commission is seeking and the mechanisms by which it is planning on acquiring these new powers.

According to the petition, both the corporate plan and the strategy mention optimizing land and property by maximizing revenue from land. The petition suggests that selling or leasing land foregoes the opportunity to optimize the land for environmental benefits. The petition asks whether environmental and social benefits provided by the land were considered when deciding to sell or lease the land. Furthermore, the petition questions how these benefits are valued and brought into the decision-making process and what their related metrics are. The petition asks the extent to which sustainable development is considered in the “Federal Land Use, Design and Transaction Approval (FLUDTA) and Real Property Optimization Decision process.”

The petition refers to 1 and 19 Sir John A. MacDonald Parkway and requests specific information with respect to this piece of land.

Federal departments/organizations responsible for reply: National Capital Commission