I was under the impression…

I was under the impression that the Rondeau cottage lease discussions were to move towards permanent occupancy and sale that would be permitted under the 2006 PPCRA and that this was directed by a past Minister of the Crown Mr. Jeff Yurek. I was also under the assumption that extensive discussions with local Chatham-Kent governance have occurred and they have supported long-term tenure for the cottage community. Many of the cottages have been in existence for a significant amount of time (many over 100 years) which to my mind makes them a cultural heritage landscape that could contribute to the overall landscape of the park as well as enhance provincial park funding through partnerships with the local cottage association. Such partnerships would make government dollars stretch further - especially in these times. Additional benefits would include long-term regional cultural heritage benefits and economic stimulus for the Chatham-Kent area and beyond. The land under discussion could also be offset with additional natural heritage values that have been identified and suggested by the cottage association which would result in additional biodiversity for the park and the surrounding regional agricultural landscape which contains few park protected terrestrial and aquatic natural heritage sites. Long-term tenure should be the goal and discussed in the near future.