Members of Canada's Senate say they want to stop the National Capital Commission from selling off federal lands to developers. NCC officials say they're only doing what's necessary.

Noel Kinsella is one of the senators who's worried that too much NCC land has been sold over the past decade in order to subsidize other projects.

The National Capital Commission is the steward of federal lands in the region and is mandated by the government to protect and develop them.

But Kinsella says the commission is acting more like a realtor, not a protector of green space.

"What concerns me the most about it is the pressure that the operating agency places themselves under to dispose of assets because they have a good project," says Kinsella.

The senator wants to amend the federal legislation governing the NCC to stop the agency from selling lands to private developers.

To that end, Kinsella has been gathering support amongst his colleagues on the issue.

Laurie Peters, a spokesperson for the National Capital Commission, says if the ability to sell land is taken away, there would have to be serious compensation in its place.

"We would have a very difficult time completely and entirely fulfilling our mandate. To reconstruct a heritage bridge or to maintain a beautiful Gatineau park, it all takes funds."

Peters says the National Capital Commission has acquired double the amount of land it's sold over the past decade, so there's no cause for alarm.

Macrcel Beaudry, the chairperson of the NCC board, will address the senators' concerns early next month, when he appears before the Senate's Standing Committee on National Finance.