I would like to emphasize…

I would like to emphasize how detrimental this would be to not only Wasaga Beach Provincial Park, but also highlight the effects that this could potentially have on the rest of our protected areas in Ontario.

Wasaga Beach is one of the last homes to the Piping Plover, a small shore bird with a status of ENDANGERED in Ontario. This wonderful, beautiful bird uses sand beaches and dunes as a habitat, and the imminent danger of losing the fragile dunes ecosystems to tourism in Wasaga would destroy their natural habitat, accelerating their decline and possibly leading to extinction or extirpation. While Mayor Smith said his "guarantee" is that the town will act as stewards for the environment during the redevelopment process... time and time again the public has proved their inability to respect and properly protect fragile ecosystems in the delicate manner that is required. Furthermore, with increased tourism, people coming in from worlds away that know nothing of the specific species and ecosystems that need protected, will have no drive or motivation to help with this process. The government has made no indication of how they will enforce this "guarantee", or how they can be sure the protected habitats will stay protected. Perhaps before rushing into a $38 million deal and changing the PPCRA, we should create a solid environmental plan, consulting environmentalists and actually listen to them. Does Doug Ford even know what a Piping Plover is?

While Wasaga Beach is not my home, I frequent Pinery Provincial Park more than most, and know the detrimental effects that the public has on the dunes ecosystems here. Even in a properly protected environment like Pinery, the staff work tirelessly to keep public off the dunes and stop blowouts from happening. Sand dunes even protect the public! Acting as a natural barrier against storms by absorbing wave energy, and reducing flooding and erosion in those lovely beach towns like Wasaga. Even the non-environmentalists can agree that Ontario has seen a frightening increase in damaging storms in the past few years, so why would they want to increase this risk even more? Floodings, lightning, and high winds have been the catalyst to most weather-related disasters in Ontario, which is one of the things that our dunes can help us prevent!!! Creating boardwalks, knocking over driftwood towers, enforcing signage, and ticketing are all wonderful ways to help protect these dunes, but taking Wasaga Beach from the Provincial Park will immediately stop these efforts. Will the government be providing money to keep these efforts in place? If Provincial Parks are struggling to keep the public off dunes imagine how bad it will be when there are no enforced regulations?

They also have stated how the changes to the PPCRA "will not affect other Provincial Parks" and is a one-time thing. This to me makes no sense. While I am not a lawmaker, after reading the PPCRA it states that you can apply to "bypass" the rule, getting approval to dispose of lands greater than 50 hectares. As the government is proposing taking around 60 ha, they could just apply to bypass this for Wasaga Beach. Changing the actual PPCRA makes it so that they don't even need to vote on it anymore, no application or consulting to environmentalists or other legislators. This puts all other protected environments like other Provincial Parks at an immediate risk, making it much easier for the government to just take as they please. Grand Bend is an ever-developing beach town as well, and with Pinery so close we are all feeling the imminent potential threat that this could have on our community.

To me, community does not just include humans, I extend this to the animals and environment surrounding the people I love as well. Why we think we are superior to all other species is beyond me, but being such an intelligent species we have the power to protect those who can't, and speak up for them when they need it most. The time is now, community is needed more than ever, and allowing those with a voice to actually be heard is something that our government and country has struggled with for a long time. Please accept this comment as a plea, from a young, passionate Ontarian who was once proud to call this province home. The recent actions of our provincial government have caused me to question what it means to be not only an Ontario resident, but also what it means to be a Canadian.