I strongly oppose the…

I strongly oppose the proposed transfer of provincially managed land to the Town of Wasaga Beach, particularly areas that include critical habitat for endangered piping plovers.

This land is not just part of a beach—it is one of the last four known breeding sites for piping plovers in all of Ontario. Wasaga Beach is the most productive of these, and its protection is vital to prevent the species from disappearing from the province entirely. The area includes nesting zones, sand dunes, and detritus-rich shorelines that are essential for the plovers’ food, shelter, and successful reproduction.

The Town of Wasaga Beach has a well-documented history of prioritizing development over conservation. This includes:

-Clearing and raking dunes, which not only destroys critical habitat but also reduces natural flood mitigation.

-Removing natural detritus, an essential food source for piping plovers and other shoreline species.

-Previously engaging in habitat destruction on the beachfront that threatens the piping plovers despite federal and provincial protections under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and Migratory Birds Convention Act (MBCA), and developing over sensitive dune and savannah ecosystems home to a number of other species at risk.

Despite these protections, the weakening of environmental regulations under Bill 5—the “Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act”—makes the plovers even more vulnerable. By transferring land from Ontario Parks to municipal control, we risk enabling further degradation with minimal oversight.

I urge the Province to halt this land transfer and uphold its duty to protect endangered species and the ecosystems they rely on. Once this habitat is gone, we will not get it back—and neither will the plovers.