MPS TO THE RESCUE OF ELM TREE.
MPS opine about fate of elm amid Hill construction
OTTAWA • Members of the House of Commons are getting amped to hear emergency testimony from committee witnesses ... about whether a tree should be cut down.
The procedure and House affairs committee is seized with the fate of a centenarian elm tree set to get the axe as construction begins on Centre Block renovations. MPS on both sides of the aisle want a say in the planning and seem eager to investigate the tree situation. So much so that they requested a moratorium on the felling and an emergency meeting to hear from witnesses.
“Well, I mean, it may be the case that the tree is savable, and it may also be the case that there’s a good reason for taking it down. We literally don’t know that,” Conservative MP Scott Reid told the National Post. “Of course once it’s cut down, there’s no going back. It’s kind of like a hanging. If the person is found not guilty after being hanged, there’s no going back and undoing it.”
On Tuesday the area surrounding Centre Block had been fenced off and construction vehicles were on site immediately next to the tree, which is rooted just east of the building. The elm was still standing. Another tree that used to be next to it is now gone.
“The rest of the scene is kind of a scene of devastation, you know. Probably Phase One of a tree massacre,” said Paul Johanis, chair of the Greenspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital. “I think they’re thinking, well, 'we’re sort of abiding by the letter of the parliamentary committee’s request,' but pretty clearly not with the spirit, I don’t think.”
He was on site and observed branch samples being taken from the tree for a University of Guelph project that could eventually propagate it elsewhere, he said. .
Last Tuesday, Public Services and Procurement Canada officials told the committee that building a new visitor welcome centre underground, which requires digging a big hole adjacent to Centre Block, is an “integral” part of the project. But the Liberal committee chair, Larry Bagnell, suggested sending a “strong letter” to the department asking them to hold off until the committee could issue recommendations. He scheduled an emergency meeting for Thursday to “scope it out and learn more about it.”
The elm tree itself is special because it has been there since around the time Parliament was being rebuilt after the 1916 fire that ravaged most of the Hill. It is the biggest, most noticeable tree. It is a rare survivor of Dutch elm disease. It should even be a candidate to become a heritage tree as designated by Ontario Forests, Johanis argued.