While Canada has many beautiful and large national parks, almost all in pristine wilderness settings, there are no urban park units within the nation. Urban historic sites and the like — yes, many, but no parks.
In a change to the usual Park profile, Canada is creating an urban park just outside of Toronto. Rouge National Urban Park will include some of the most endangered and rich farmland in the country, at risk of being consumed by the urban sprawl of Toronto. And also to preserve the cultural farming heritage of the area and some wilderness areas as well. The park will cover 16x the area of New York City’s Central Park.
As with any new park, there were many controversies around the creation of this one, and disagreements between the Ontario provincial government and the federal government. Yesterday, Prime Minister Harper’s government transferred the first lands into this park, making it’s creation a certainty. I think this is a good thing.
More on this story on CNW at this link.
