Wasaga Beach is Ontario’s…

Wasaga Beach is Ontario’s most productive piping plover nesting site, responsible for nearly half of the newly returned and still critically vulnerable fledglings since 2007. Transferring control from Ontario Parks to the municipality risks weakening the protections that allow these birds to return to Canada, especially in light of recent reductions under the Endangered Species Act. I strongly urge the Ontario government to ensure that any transfer includes a conservation-first management plan, requiring the municipality to maintain protections like fenced nesting buffers and limits on mechanical beach raking, as well as maintain active and funded habitat stewardship, and work directly with conservation experts like Birds Canada when developing management guidelines.