Council for the Township of…

Council for the Township of The Archipelago supports the proposal to amend Ontario Regulation 161/17 (O. Reg. 161/17) under the Public Lands Act described in ERO 019-6590 posted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry on February 24, 2023. The key proposed amendments relating to camping on water over public lands will reduce the environmental and social impacts of floating accommodations and long camping stays and help to ensure that floating accommodation units can be appropriately regulated to:

• Reduce the potential environmental impacts, such as disposal of black/grey water and garbage, and lower the spread of plastics pollution from the use of unencapsulated dock foam for flotation;
• Reduce the safety issues for those on board these units, which have poor navigability and are unstable in high winds/waves;
• Keep these floating accommodation units safely moored at shoreline locations, where they can benefit from services such as water, sewage, hydro and garbage disposal;
• Create the potential for municipalities to apply taxes to these accommodation units to pay for the services provided;