I am sending this email to…

I am sending this email to express my opposition to the captioned
proposal to amend Ontario Regulation 161/17 to the Public Lands Act to
change the requirements for camping on water over Ontario’s public
lands as it is currently constituted.

While I support the goal of the proposed changes which I
interpret as addressing nuisance boats taking up long-term residence on
public lands, I believe the proposed wording would significantly
negatively impact the ability of responsible boat owners to enjoy
boating and anchoring on Lake Ontario, Georgian Bay and many other
lakes. Specifically, the prohibition of anchoring/camping within 300m of
developed shoreline would effectively prohibit the use of anchorages
that have been in use by boaters for decades. I note that anchorages
require specific geographic or manmade landforms that are relatively
rare on most lakes. The notion that moving a few hundred metres away
from a current anchorage would solve the problem is invalid. In most
instances, moving a few hundred metres would require leaving a safe
anchorage.

I do accept that there is an issue with a small minority of
irresponsible boat owners negatively impacting cottage or property
owners by creating a nuisance close to their property. I'm not aware of
any other circumstances that prioritize a property owner's risk of being
disturbed above the public's right to conduct legal activities on public
land up to 300 metres away from the property. If a boat at anchor is
creating a nuisance, excessive noise or polluting, this should be
addressed by laws and regulations that address these behaviours. If the
intent is to penalize nuisance boaters, then I am all in favor of that,
however, the proposed changes are far too broad. As written a family
quietly enjoying an evening at anchor 300 metres from a dock could be
ticketed and made to move on, potentially with the next safe harbour
being hours away. To provide cottage owners with some protection against
disturbance, I would not oppose a minimum distance from developed
shoreline. I believe 15 metres would be a reasonable compromise between
the interests of cottage property owners and the publics right to enjoy
public lands.