I support the 2-year…

I support the 2-year extension of cottage leases, but I implore the government to make a final decision on the fate of cottages in Rondeau Provincial Park.

I have a personal stake in extending the cottage leases in Rondeau Provincial Park. My family has maintained a cottage since the mid-1950s, and my children are the 4th generation to benefit from it. When it was thought the leases would expire in 2017, I had all but given up on the idea that I would be able to enjoy the cottage in my later years, as my parents and their parents before them had done. When COVID hit, we spent more time than ever in Rondeau and a new appreciation was born. With it came a renewed hope to see the leases extended.

I don't have any illusions about what it means to have a cottage in Rondeau in 2022. It's a massive privilege. Many cottagers, myself included, are the beneficiaries of intergenerational luck. Whether cottagers are great "stewards of the land" or not, we have special access to public land at an exceptionally low price compared to the open market. Some would consider that unfair, and I can't necessarily disagree with them. But the cottages are here and have been since the turn of the last century. That counts for something. Quite a lot, I'd argue.

And fairness swings both ways. It's equally unfair for the Government of Ontario to continue to draw out the fate of cottagers. If we're not going to be able to enjoy the park beyond 2024, I'd like to know that now. In fact, I deserve to know it. I won't spend my weekends on fix-up projects, or worry about financing major maintenance, instead I'll just relax and try to eke the most enjoyment possible out of a place that's been a part of my family for 70 years.

Conversely, if there is to be an extension, much work must be done. I know I'm not the only one holding off on larger projects until I know if the cottage I fix up today will have to be torn down tomorrow.

The Government of Ontario has strung cottagers along with consultations for years. Decades, even. The last major decision on leases was issued in 2019, 9 years after public consultations has closed and 2 years after the leases had expired. That is an embarrassing and unacceptable way to treat residents of any community. Either the Province wants cottages in the Park or it doesn't. I can't imagine that 2 more years of information will reveal anything that isn't already well-known. You either favour the ecological argument for removing cottages or the economic one for maintaining them. After more than a century, what else is there to know?

Make a long-term decision before this extension expires in 2024.

In the meantime, I wholeheartedly support this extension.