Opinion: Lambert on ‘Free the Chaudière Falls’ and ‘Save the Islands’
By Lynn Gehl
There has been a long time controversy in Ottawa, traditional Algonquin Anishinaabeg territory, regarding the need to re-naturalize a sacred land and waterscape.
Indigenous settler-ally Lindsay Lambert offers pertinent history about the colonial transformation of the natural waterscape known to the Algonquin people as Akikpautik which translates to Pipe Bowl Falls and now called the Chaudière Falls. Really, though, the Falls have been masked by a dam for industrial use for more than a century. Lambert argues Canada has long considered the Chaudière Falls crown land where in the late 1800s, officials issued hydraulic leases so the waters could be harnessed for industrial use. It was in 1908 when various lease holders constructed the ring dam over the entire span of the falls, where eventually E.B. Eddy took over sole operation for its pulp and paper mill production.
In 1997 the Domtar Corporation bought E.B. Eddy and ran the mills until they closed in 2007. It is Lambert’s contention that when Domtar closed, the federal government should have voided the industrial leases and complied with the 1950 Jacques Gréber Plan commissioned in 1936 by Prime Minister Mackenzie King intended to govern the growth and development of the capital region of Ottawa. In this plan Gréber concluded:
The most effective improvement will be the central park at the Chaudière Falls. The time will come when the heavy and obnoxious industries, now occupying the islands, peninsula, and the rocks, from which the falls originally receded, will finally move to more appropriate sites, for their normal development, and more economical operation. The Master Plan is a long range programme based upon which the Capital will grow; urban planning demands resolute perseverance, and the Falls will always remain the main feature of Ottawa’s natural setting.
In terms of the three islands located downstream from the ring dam, according to colonial law the National Capital region has jurisdiction over Victoria Island whereas the other two, Chaudière and Albert, are co-owned by Canada and Domtar. Domtar is now in the process of selling their property to The Windmill Development Group for re-development with condominiums, a hotel, offices, and retail space. The federal government is supporting this process, and while at one time Ottawa did zone the islands for ‘Parks and Open Space’ on October 8th, 2014, the Ottawa City Council changed the zoning of the lands to ‘Downtown Mixed Use’ to permit this development. Sadly, city officials do not seem to care about Algonquin Anishinaabeg law.
Many Algonquin Anishinaabeg and an active contingent of settler people, organized around “Free Chaudière Falls and Its Islands”, are opposed to Windmill’s development project of the islands. They have been waiting for a long time for the industrial use of the falls and islands to end, desiring the area to be re-naturalized. Presently there are five appeals, scheduled to begin June 3rd, with the Ottawa Municipal Board against The City of Ottawa’s re-zoning of the land.
In terms of Indigenous opposition, many know that Algonquin Grandfather William Commanda held a special vision for the area. It was his vision that the sacredness of Pipe Bowl Falls be returned to its natural form while the three islands would feature a city park, a historic interpretive centre, a peace building meeting site, and an Aboriginal centre. Regardless, in a world where money trumps vision and the need for concrete reconciliation between Canada and Indigenous Nations, The Windmill Development Group’s plans have more momentum in moving forward.
We will see what the Ottawa Municipal Board determines on June 3rd.
Additional links:
https://qshare.queensu.ca/Users01/gordond/planningcanadascapital/greber1950/index.htm
http://spacing.ca/ottawa/2009/12/22/the-greber-plan-a-ghost-of-ottawa-past/
http://www.angelfire.com/ns/circleofallnations/H9.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFC6aSSmRs0
Lynn Gehl, PhD is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe. She has a section 15 Charter challenge regarding the continued sex discrimination in The Indian Act, is an outspoken critic of the Ontario Algonquin land claims and self-government process, and has three books titled Anishinaabeg Stories: Featuring Petroglyphs, Petrographs, and Wampum Belts, The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin on the Algonquin Land Claims Process, and Mkadengwe: Sharing Canada’s Colonial Process through Black Face Methodology. You can reach her at lynngehl@gmail.com and www.lynngehl.com
Anishinaabeg Stories: Featuring Petroglyphs, Petrographs, and Wampum Belts
http://www.lynngehl.com/1-anishinaabeg-stories.html
The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin on the Algonquin Land Claims Process
http://www.lynngehl.com/2-truth-that-wampum-tells.html
Mkadengwe: Sharing Canada’s Colonial Process through Black Face Methodology