We strongly object to the present policy and practice by most Canadian corporate sponsors demanding painful compliance with their sponsorship/donors practices, known as “means test”, as a precondition to providing financial support to kids from economically disadvantaged families and the disabled.
We find the present practice and widespread use of the means test, by Canadian corporate sponsors, wrong and humiliating, inflicting pain not only on the economically disadvantage families, but more important, on their kids who are made to feel “subsidized”.
The management of Family Nature Parcs feels deeply that every child has the “right to play” without feeling guilty to want to play, or, being the cause of humiliating their families, in some instances forcing parents to submit to the “means test”.
Our studies would indicate that most new Canadians and aboriginal kids do not participate in sport for many reasons. The most important reasons are the escalating costs of sports and also, to avoid making financial demands on the limited budgets of their families.
The Company is planning to try to eliminate the use of the present practice of the “means test”.
For the purpose of implantation of our “no means test” policy, the Company started to form a Canadian federal charter corporation as a not for profit arm, We are seeking to organize the first Canadian hybrid corporate status, a one for profit arm the other a not for profit arm.
Family Nature Parcs will make a substantial number of seasonal vacancies in its sport and recreation facilities available FREE of charge to the economically disadvantaged, boys and girls, to aboriginals, to new Canadian families and children and to the disabled.
We will seek in-kind donations from individual donors, governments and corporate sponsors, to participate in the Company’s program of matching our seasonal allowance of free players with donors and sponsors, matching one-for-one free player, by sponsoring an equal number of economically disadvantaged players and the disabled as may be qualified and recommended to donors by the Company.
We will proactively seek to raise funds from donors, from hosting special fund raising events and from a portion of the profits of (the for profit arm) Family Nature Parcs to make available opportunities for kids to have the right to play.
The charitable status of My Right To Play Inc., is being planned to gain eventual acceptance from the international community. We plan to seek the approval of foreign governments to grant similar charitable consideration (status) to our Family Nature Parcs’ Franchisees, to expand the universal right of every kid to play and to be well.
If you like to know more about our development plans or to share your ideas with us, we would love to hear from you. Please email us at: info@familynatureparcs.com. You may also consider to Register for FREE, to receive our periodical progress reports and news.
The Company, as supplier of sport and recreation facilities is obligated to recognize and to follow the rental rates (the ” rental rates”) of sport facilities the 33,650 not-for-profit Canadian sport organizations are paying to the sport facilities owners: municipalities, provincial and territory government, schools and colleges.
During the past three years, sport facilities rental rates, almost doubled. Rental rates are projected to increase yearly at an average rates of 19% per year, for the foreseeable future. It is clear that facilities rental rates increases are passed on to families and players increasing their membership fees, coach and trainers charges.
Our 2012 market analysis would indicate that rental rate per player (different in cities, regions and provinces) and the kind of sport played, mainly hockey, tennis, soccer, volleyball, golf, basketball and softball, are in the rental range for facilities of $19 – $26 per hour per player per season.
Using the same criteria, our analysis would indicate that on average player/ family are paying at a rate of $32- $43 per hour per player per season for facilities operated and managed by the 33,650 not for profit organizations. However, major Canadian cities are more costly. Toronto, Calgary, Halifax and Vancouver on average player/ family paying was $39- $48 (Montreal $36- $44) per hour per player per season. These rates recorded an average 9%-16% increase for 2013.
Operations and Capacity at Ashton Family Nature Parc: Projection of attendance is based on the sport and recreation facilities and available ancillary revenue generating activities we are planning for our first Family Nature Parc planned to be developed on the Ashton, City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada land site.
Parc Time & Hours: Summer: 30 weeks – 210 days – 12 hours/day (Annual business operation will start on April 1st and will close October 30th. Hours of Operations: 8.30am and closes at 8.30pm including Saturday Sunday and holidays).
Parc Summer Seasonal Available Revenue Hours:
210 days x 12 hours = 2510 hours
Number of Games/Events 35
Potential Season Revenue Hour/Game/Events: 35 X 2510 = 87,850 Revenue Hours
Parc Time & Hours: Winter: 7 weeks – 49 days – 9 hours/day (Annual business operation will be resumed on January 10th and will close February 28th). Hours of Operations: 9.30am and closes at 6.30pm including Saturday Sunday and holidays)
Parc Winter Season Available Revenue Hours:
56 days X 9 hours = 504
Number of Games/ Events 10
Potential Season Revenue Hour/Game/Events: 10 X 2510 = 25,100 Revenue Hours
Summary of Yearly – Available Revenue Hours (Summer & Winter) Seasonal Potential at 100% of use of all sport and recreation facilities. Available Hour/Game/Event: 87,850 hour + 25,100 hours = 112,950 Total Revenue Year Hours.
If you like to know more about our development plans or to share your ideas with us, we would love to hear from you. Please email us at: info@familynatureparcs.com. You may also consider to Register for FREE, to receive our periodical progress reports and news.
Canada, as a country, is unique in having developed and matured sport and recreation into a major industry, generating in 2011 annual revenues in excess of $64 billion. Canadian community sport is operated on a seasonal basis by 33,650 not for profit organizations. … CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION …
Aerial photo of the Land Site- within the red border – area 138.44 acres, located between Ashton Station Road(less than 2 kilometres to HW-7 and HW 417 West) and McCaffrey Trail. Showing the Jock River travels a distance of 1,666 feet through the land site.
Legend:(1)Jock River (2) McCaffrey Trail (3) Forested Hill 43 ft high (4)Ashton Station Road Map Direction
(5)Entrance and Exit to Parc at road allowance and Ashton Station Road
Legend: (1)Jock River (2)McCaffrey Trail (3)Forested Hill 43 ft high (4)Ashton Station Road (5)Entrance and Exit to Parc at road allowance and Ashton Station Road
Aerial photo of the Land Site– within the red border – area 138.44 acres, located between Ashton Station Road (less than 2 kilometre to HW-7 and HW 417 West) and McCaffrey Trail. Showing the Jock River travels a distance of 1,666 feet through the land site.
The land site and Concept Planning: Concept Planning means those pre-development actions initiated to (a) conduct planning studies to assess the development potential of the Property; (b) prepare a conceptual master plan for the Property; (c) pursue local (municipal) governmental planning and regulatory approvals necessary to implement the conceptual master plan (s) of Family Nature Parcs including plan amendments and rezoning; and (d) prepare and obtain local governmental approval of plans.
Concept Planning for the Company’s own Parcs, generally is undertaken upon having acquired a leasehold interest in a land site chosen and approved by the Company. In the case of a franchisee upon having legally established the ownership or leasehold interest of the franchisee in the designated land site.
The Concept Planning for a Family Nature Parcs land site in Canada may consist of one or more of the following steps which generally would be required for the eventual development of a Family Nature Parcs sports and recreation facilities. (a) Land site Feasibility Assessment involving the suitability of location, accessibility, environmental issues, water resources, species and allowed usages. (b) Site Plan Preparation involving conceptual layout of facilities, outline of necessary infrastructure (c) Official Designation of Land Sites and Zoning Matters, the Company my seek approvals of its Site Plan, or may seek amendments to the existing Official Designation of Land Sites and Zoning. Amendments will be supported with engineering plans and relevant studies prepared by the Company and consultants.
Direction to Ashton Land site:
GPS Navigation
[wpgmza id=”3″]
From Ottawa
Take Highway 417 West to Highway 7 Exit.
Follow Highway 7 to Ashton Station Road
Turn left on Ashton Station Road and proceed approximately 1 km to the village of Ashton.
From Carleton Place
Take Highway 7 East to Ashton Station Road.
Turn right on Ashton Station Road and proceed approximately 1 km to the village of Ashton.
From Highway 416
Proceed to Highway 417 West.
Take Highway 417 West to Highway 7 Exit.
Follow Highway 7 to Ashton Station Road
Turn left on Ashton Station Road and proceed approximately 1 km to the village of Ashton.
From Smith Falls
Take Highway 15 North towards Carleton Place.
Turn right on Highway 7 East.
Turn right on Ashton Station Road and proceed approximately 1 km to the village of Ashton.
Family Nature Parcs and Fred L Farha are honored and privileged to announce his appointment as our Chief Architect & Senior Advisor
Douglas Cardinal the internationally acclaimed Canadian architect of Métis and Blackfoot heritage will inspire our dreams for the realization of our first community outdoor sport and recreational facility in Ashton, Ottawa then spreading our outdoor wellness FNPs across Canada and the world.
Douglas J. Cardinal, O.C., Ph.D. (h.c.)
B.Arch., O.A.A, A.I.A, A.A.A., M.A.A., S.A.A., O.C., R.C.A.A., F.R.A.I.C., F.R.I.A.S,
Family Nature Parcs and Fred L Farha are honored and privileged to announce his appointment of as our Chief Architect & Senior Advisor. Douglas Cardinal the internationally acclaimed Canadian architect of Métis and Blackfoot heritage will inspire our dreams for the realization of our first community outdoor sport and recreational facility in Ashton, Ottawa then spreading our outdoor wellness FNPs across Canada and the world.
Douglas Cardinal expresses his buildings in a signature style of harmonius curvilinear forms. Yet, the elegance of his designs is not limited to aesthetics- he has a deep understanding of architecture as a tool to better the world. A proponent of Organic Architecture, Douglas Cardinal understands architecture as a holistic enterprise where all members of the architectural process conjunctively create a legacy for the future. Indeed, Douglas believes that each building takes a life of its own as a living, organic being shaped in close partnership with the client and all stake holders.
As an architect, Douglas Cardinal has created a practice where he brings clients’ visions into reality. Douglas believes we humans have a responsibility to our gift of creativity, and that with our wills connected, we can create anything. To make this happen, Douglas Cardinal’s unique architectural process starts with a Vision Session. He encourages the client to analyze all aspects of the usage of a space by studying the empirical, practical, emotional and spiritual needs of a building. Thus his buildings are designed with a soul, which is found in the intentions and the deepest hopes and desires of all stake holders. In this unique and rigorous exercise, the client can clearly identify all resources needed – be it technological, professional or financial – that will be required in completing the project. Ultimately, it is not the architect that creates the buildings, but the client; it is their vision, their financing, and their social commitment that organically grows a built environment that reflects their projected identity. The architect gives shape to and coordinates the intricacies of the clients’ visions for a building.
Precisely because he believes there is no end to our capability to create that which is envisioned, Douglas Cardinal has defied rectilinear conventional principles of architecture. As early as the 1960’s he began using the amazing capability of computers in order to calculate the complex organic forms, most notably in the curved roof of his first masterpiece, St. Mary’s church in Red Deer, Alberta. He incorporated the technology further to increase the dimensioning precision and affordability of his organic forms, and by the late 1970’s Douglas Cardinal Architect became the first architectural practice to be entirely computerized, utilizing an architectural program designed exclusively for the firm. St. Albert Place, in St. Albert, Alberta – now designated a historic building – was the first building in the world to be built with totally computerized architectural technology to dimension all construction drawings. Douglas Cardinal’s unique approach to computers extends beyond the conceptual design phase, as he constructs in three dimensions with detail accuracy to at least ten decimal places. His exceptional use of computer software is unparalleled to this day, as he integrates computer technology in a manner which creatively encourages the evolution of techniques and technologies of the construction and trade industries. All this creates better architecture.
Douglas, his wife Idoia and young team.
Douglas Cardinal’s life is dedicated to creating beautiful, thriving harmonious built environments. As an architect he builds buildings, as a planner and activist he builds communities, and as a leader and philosopher he builds bridges between dispersed cultures all over the world. Douglas Cardinal personifies the timelessness of a masterbuilder.
Born in 1934 in Calgary, Alberta, his mother augured early in his childhood that he would become an architect. His architectural studies at The University of British Columbia took him to Austin, Texas, where he worked at Jesson Milhouse Greeven with Fred Day and acquired scholarships to study at the renowned School of Architecture at the The University of Texas. There he found an intellectually stimulating and socially invigorating environment where in addition to his education in architecture, he benefitted from actively involving himself in the many human rights initiatives ignited in the United States in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. This commitment to bettering human conditions continues to be one of the major principles of his architecture, from the smallest detail to the overall design or masterplan. He continues his holistic multidisciplinary practice in Ottawa, Ontario where he currently resides.
Douglas is a forerunner of all philosophies of sustainability, green buildings and ecologically designed community planning. His architecture springs from his observations of Nature and his understanding that everything works seamlessly together. For him this principle is exemplified by the organic signature works of Borromini, Gaudi, Rudolph Steiner and Frank Lloyd Wright – all of whom have also substantiated such aliveness through beauty and grace in their architecture. Indeed, Douglas believes that the practical needs humans have for architecture must also include beauty if we are to achieve true sustainability and harmonious communities.
In recognition of such a wonderful principle, Douglas Cardinal has received many acknowledgments and awards including: fourteen Honourary Doctorates from several universities in Canada and the United States, the appointment as Officer of the Order of Canada – the greatest honour Canada as a nation bestows to its citizens, the Gold Medals in Architecture from the Royal Architectural Institute in Canada and the Union of Architects of Russia, honourary fellowships to the Society of American Registered Architects and the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and the declaration of being “World Master of Contemporary Architecture” as a Professor and Academician by the International Association of Architects.
Douglas Cardinal is one of the visionaries of a new world where beauty, balance and harmony thrive, and where client, architect, and stakeholder build together in a common vision. His Curriculum Vitae and all the awards achieved throughout his brilliant career are simply a testimony of what the partnership of architect and client can achieve together.
Note: Photos courtesy by Bruno Schlumberger, Ottawa Citizen with thanks.
The personal information on this form is being collected for the purposes of recruiting and selecting employees wishing to work in Family Nature Parcs. The information may also be required for evaluation purposes. Any evaluation reports developed will not identify individual employees by name. We will not sell or disclose your information to others.
