A small group calling themselves Friends of the Rouge National Urban Park have re-constituted themselves as a group to help along the continued establishment and operation of ROUGE NATIONAL URBAN PARK as it was envisioned and agreed to be by the City of Toronto, City of Markham, the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada, several community groups and many individuals. Third reading in Parliament of Bill C-60, a bill to establish the park, passed in the House of Commons earlier in 2015. The Bill has passed the Senate. And the Prime Minister of Canada, the Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, announced in July 2015 of an additional large tract of federally-owned lands to be transferred to the Park, all of which is now being managed by Parks Canada from their offices in the Rouge.
The Hon. Pauline Browes, the Hon.Peter Kent, the Hon. Michael Chong, all former national Canadian Cabinet Ministers with an environmental bent, along with Alan Wells, former Rouge Park Alliance Chair, Councillors, Glenn DeBaermaeker, Ron Moeser and Corneliu Chisu, M.P. are leading a larger group of committed Rouge National Urban Park groups and individual supporters to see this project to its early completion.
One wrinkle in the project is the requirement for the Government of Ontario to turn over to Parks Canada those lands owned by the province and previously committed to this exciting project, but not yet turned over to the Park due to some unnecessary provincially-based political mis-manouverings!
The above-noted committee is now calling upon people to press this issue with the Ontario Provincial Government and its members so that proper planning, environmental management and public enjoyment might take place in an orderly way to make the most of this wonderful wild public national park in the midst of this largely populated urban centre.
There will be more and frequent information posted on this web site as we move along. So please join us when you can on these pages and send us your thoughts to help with this ‘bit of wild in the City’.
For more information contact:
–The Hon. Pauline Browes, former Minister of State for the Environment
browes@rogers.com
–Larry Noonan, environmental activist and hike leader
larrynoonan@rogers.com
Friends of Rouge National Urban Park 