" Selling provincial park…

" Selling provincial park land is just the latest in a series of harmful actions, including the repeal of the Endangered Species Act under Bill 5, the stripping down of environmental assessment processes, and granting the government authority to designate special economic zones anywhere — exempt from environmental laws.

The table is being set to undermine Ontario’s system of protected lands, which began in 1893, when Algonquin Park was established. The government’s focus on unchecked development comes at the expense of nature, threatening iconic parks such as Presqu’ile, Killarney, Sandbanks, Quetico, Bon Echo and Frontenac — each vulnerable to being broken up and sold if current protections are weakened further. Existing safeguards in the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act are being extinguished, risking irreversible damage to the province’s natural treasures.

This is the red line. We must stand against the government’s contempt for conservation and their disconnect from the public’s love for Ontario’s parks and natural landscapes.

The current proposal to remove nearly one-third — 645 acres — of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park is alarming, but it’s just a glimpse of the broader threat: legislative changes that would make it easier and faster to remove land from parks. These amendments would bypass necessary legislative approval for land removals beyond one per cent, weakening protections that preserve biodiversity, recreational spaces and ecological health.

Ironically, much of Ontario’s park system was created by previous Progressive Conservative governments. Weakening it risks turning parks into vulnerable assets for short-term profit, diluting Ontario’s natural legacy established by premiers like Bill Davis and Mike Harris.

We must prioritize long-term conservation to ensure Ontario’s parks endure for future generations. The Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act must be upheld as the critical shield protecting these areas."

I object to this proposal completely!!!

From the Piping Plover SAR Recovery Strategy:

"Piping Plovers face many threats and the magnitude and relative importance of these threats vary among the Ontario subpopulations. In the Ontario Great Lakes subpopulation, the most important threats are predation, human disturbance, and habitat loss or degradation. In the Ontario Lake of the Woods subpopulation, predation and storm events that result in storm surges and flooding appear to be the main threats...

1.6 Threats to survival and recovery
The main threats to the Piping Plover are predation, human disturbance and habitat degradation and loss (Environment Canada 2006). The relative importance of these threats varies by subpopulation. For example, for Great Lakes breeding pairs recently re-established in Ontario, newly identified threats relate to predation, specific human disturbance factors and certain natural weather events. In the Ontario Lake of the Woods subpopulation, high water levels and storm events seem to be the most important factors, and predation may be a secondary threat. Most major threats (habitat degradation, predation, and human disturbance) are persistent and pervasive within the Great Lakes basin and present many challenges (United States Fish and Wildlife Service 2009, LeDee et al. 2010b).

Local habitat change – Great Lakes subpopulation
Many human activities contribute directly to loss and degradation of habitat for Piping Plovers. Increased access to transportation and an expanding tourism industry have fueled coastal development; according to Alig et al. (2004), p. 230, coastlines are predicted to accommodate 'ever-increasing residential, commercial and industrial use".

And of course lets not forget this isn't even your land to sell off!

"These lands are part of 1.6 Million Acres of the 1818 Lakes Simcoe-Notawasaga Treaty 18 between the Chippewa Tri-Council and Britain where the land was improperly surrendered with no proper compensation"