Calgary dog owners slam plans to expand cemetery into off-leash park

The off-leash dog park at the southwest end of Queen’s Park Cemetery is a popular spot for Calgary pets and their owners.

“It’s important to get everyone outside to keep people exercising and balanced,”  said David McNiff, who uses the park with his family on a daily basis.

But the city has plans to rezone the land for the expansion of the cemetery. Officials say using the extra land will ease the pressure for new burial spaces until a new southeast cemetery is built.

“There’s a huge demand,” said Gary Daudlin, cemetery superintendent with the City of Calgary. “Queen’s Park Cemetery was developed in 1940, when there was a population of about 86,000 — we now have a population base of over 1.2 million.

Park users have started a petition to try to prevent the land-use re-designation.

The Cambrian Heights Community Association (CHCA) was involved in a previous battle over the city wanting to use the land for cemetery purposes, but in the end the land was kept as a green space.

“In  2006, council voted to not acquire these lands,” said CHCA president Daryl Connolly. “They didn’t say they weren’t part of their expansion plans, but they agreed that they would not acquire these lands for the cemetery expansion.”

Connolly is concerned that the city is fast-tracking the process and that there may not be enough time for community input.

“They are obviously rushing,” he said. “In their defense, their ill-planning has resulted in them having a crisis situation and they’ve told us that they need this land to fill the gap between 2018 and 2021, when the future cemetery will be available.

“So these lands, for a few years’ gap, are going to be turned over to the deceased rather than the living.”

Residents say they recognize the need for additional burial space but question the use of an existing area currently used by the community.

The city plans to start work on the expansion this summer depending on the outcome of the land-use re-designation process.

A public information meeting will be held at the Highwood Community Hall in May.