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Rouge Park in Toronto gives Parks Canada high hopes for Canada’s first urban national park
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Daily Brew
The national park system is something Canadians cherish as a national treasure, but apparently at a distance.
That's why Parks Canada will be watching attendance closely at Rouge Park, located in Toronto, Canada's first urban national park.
"I have great confidence it's going to transform the national parks system — it's going to be good for everybody," Toronto city councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, one of the original activists who fought to save "the Rouge" from developers, told the Toronto Star. "That is our gift to future generations."
Attendance at Parks Canada wildlife, marine and historic sites fell seven per cent since 2006-07, according to agency figures.
Ontario parks were down two per cent in the last five years, while Quebec attendance dropped 10 per cent. Other provinces saw largely flat or perhaps marginal increases in attendance.
Parks Canada has hired a consultant to find ways to boost revenues without raising fees and try to get young people and new Canadians interested in the country's world-renowned parks network.
The agency wants a 10 per cent increase in visits by 2015 largely by targeting residents in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, according to a statement outlining the work Toronto-based Veritas is to do.
"The degree of knowledge is very low in these three cities, particularly among young Canadians and immigrants," says the statement, obtained by The Canadian Press earlier this year.
At 6,000 hectares. Rouge Park, 28-kilometres long and four-kilometres wide at most, is dwarfed by Parks Canada's big wilderness assets. But the valley on the Toronto-Pickering border will be the largest urban park in the world, almost 10 times bigger than Vancouver's Pacific Spirit regional park and 15 times bigger than Central Park in New York.
And it's within an hour's drive of seven million residence of the Greater Toronto Area, the Star noted.
"The big, big element to us is it's an accessible opportunity for close to 20 per cent of Canada's population," Parks Canada spokeswoman Catherine Grenier told the Star.
"The opportunity to connect youth to nature, to have that proximity for them to experience and get involved is a tremendous opportunity for everybody in Canada."
Grenier added that entry to the park will likely remain free.
The Rouge's attractions include the region's best remaining coastal wetlands, stands of Carolinian forest, wildlife such as bobolinks and Blanding turtles and other features such as the Toronto Zoo, camping areas and evidence of aboriginal history and culture, the Star said.
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