“Provincial parks belong to the people of Ontario”
NDP MPP Chris Glover, at the invitation of Wasaga Beach resident Mark Winegarden, and Environmental Defence executive director Tim Gray called a press conference Sunday in opposition of Premier Doug Ford’s plan to sell off 60 per cent of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park waterfront to private developers.
They say the sell-off threatens to strip the public of access to one of Canada’s most beloved beaches, while setting a dangerous precedent that could open the door to selling off provincial parks and public spaces across Ontario.
Protestors are against the Ontario government’s proposal to sell the crown-owned lands within Beach Areas 1, 2, New Wasaga, and Allenwood Beach to the Town of Wasaga Beach “to support their revitalization of the downtown area and tourism enhancement initiatives, while continuing to protect the area’s natural and cultural heritage.”
They are concerned for the protection of the area’s natural heritage, include the nesting area of the endangered piping plover.
Birds Canada says Wasaga Beach is one of the most important nesting sites for the birds, having produced half of the province’s piping plover fledglings since 2007.
According to Birds Canada, “piping plover habitat in Wasaga Beach is protected and managed through regulations that apply within the provincial park boundaries. If these boundaries shift as the proposal outlines, the recent weakening of habitat protections under the Ontario Endangered Species Act with the passing of Bill 5 means this important piping plover habitat will be left with no provincial protection. Additionally, federal legislation doesn’t protect piping plover habitat in Ontario unless it’s on federal land.”
Environmental Defence says the threat to the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act (PPCRA) that protects all of Ontario Parks and Conservation Reserves, is even more concerning. The government is proposing currently unspecified “legislative amendments” to the PPCRA. Environmental Defence is concerned that the provincial government intends to weaken the process requirements for removing park or conservation reserve lands seeing as the current law would not need to be changed if its process requirements, including a Legislative Assembly vote on the park area changes, are followed.
“Provincial parks belong to the people of Ontario and are meant to be protected forever. It is appalling that the current government is trying to give away big parts of one of our most popular parks, and make changes to the legislation that protects all of our Provincial Parks,” said Gray. “These beachfront lands on Georgian Bay are worth millions of dollars and are owned by the people of Ontario. They should never be a part of a tourism development.”
A statement from Mayor Brian Smith says the province is considering the transfer of less than 60 hectares of land – just three per cent of the park’s total 1,844 hectares – back to the municipality.
“This land would go to the town, not to developers – and it would come with the requirement that the beach remains public,” he said. “The citizens of Wasaga Beach wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Roughly half of the proposed land includes beach and environmentally sensitive dunes – areas that will be preserved,” he said. “That leaves about 30 hectares, mostly paved parking lots, that could be reimagined through a thoughtful, community-led waterfront master plan. That work is already underway. In June, we launched a national search for a multi-disciplinary team of ecologists, designers, and planners to guide that process, grounded in sustainability and public input.”
