This petition calls on Parliament to pass a law formally protecting Gatineau Park, establishing its boundaries, banning new residential construction inside the park, and prioritizing ecological health in its management.

Gatineau Park is a conservation area of national significance that lacks its own federal legislation;

The protection of the park requires legally established boundaries, the primacy of ecological integrity and measures to prevent fragmentation, ecological degradation and residential intensification;

Private properties fragment ecosystems and hinder the gradual consolidation of park lands into the public domain; and

The park should be dedicated to Canadians and preserved intact for future generations.

We, the undersigned,residents of Canada, call upon theHouse of Commons in Parliament assembledto enact legislation that: 1. Dedicates the park to Canadians for their benefit, enjoyment and enrichment of their knowledge and ensures its preservation for future generations; 2. Makes the maintenance or restoration of ecological integrity the top priority in the management of the park; 3. Establishes the park’s boundaries by law, requires an Act of Parliament for any reduction in those boundaries and requires the approval of the Government of Quebec for any expansion; 4. Prohibits new residential construction and any expansion, replacement, redevelopment or intensification that increases the footprint, scale or environmental impact of an existing residence; 5. Empowers the National Capital Commission to gradually acquire private properties within the park through a right of first refusal or equivalent offer mechanism upon their sale, transfer, subdivision or parceling; 6. Protects public access and recreational activities that are consistent with ecological integrity; and 7. Provides for permanent and enforceable measures to prevent ecological degradation, residential intensification, fragmentation and the erosion of the park’s boundaries.