Re: ERO File 025-0694 –…

Re: ERO File 025-0694 – Changes to Wasaga Beach Protection
I am writing to register my objection to the proposed amendments to the Parks and Conservation Reserves Act 2006.
I live in Toronto, and you may be wondering why I care about Wasaga Beach. Wasaga is at the south end of Nottawasaga Bay, a small part of Georgian Bay, which is in turn a part of Lake Huron, one of the world-famous Great Lakes. Anywhere else, it would be a lake in its own right.
Toronto sits on the north shore of Lake Ontario, another part of the Great Lakes system. Much of this shoreline was industrialised centuries ago, with wetlands drained and harbour walls created for shipping and railways. Toronto is finally reclaiming much of its former port lands for new housing and parks, but beaches are hard to come by.
Clarke Beach is one nice place, and the Toronto Islands, created from the erosion of the iconic Scarborough Bluffs, is another one where people needing to cool off in the summer can find a lovely place to swim and enjoy cool breezes off the always cold Lake. Otherwise, beaches are hard to find in Toronto, now a city of over 3 million people. Many of those people live in high rise apartments with no back yard, and our parks and beaches are their only opportunities to find green spaces in which to relax in nature.
Wasaga is a relatively short drive for a day trip to a beautiful beach, and is therefore very popular with those Torontonians who have a car. It gets very crowded on warm summer days. It should not be reduced in size. It should remain public as part of the Provincial Park.
Riparian Rights also in Common Law allow free and unfettered access to waterways and shorelines. Historically, during the colonisation of Upper Canada, along with the lots and concessions, shoreline roads were established, and public access was available on and beyond such roads so that fishing and other activities could be enjoyed. Only the lands inshore of the shoreline roads were granted for private ownership under the Crown allocations of farm lots.
Eastdale Drive, Coastline Drive and Mosley Street appear to be the shoreline road in Wasaga Beach. Some low-rise development has already happened along the western part of the beach west of Snake Island along Shore Lane, but the actual beach is still accessible.
If the proposal for the sale of the beach areas 1 and 2, along with New Wasaga Beach, goes ahead, the lands will lose the protection of the Parks and Conservation Reserves Act 2006, and come under the purview of the Town. I fail to see how this would boost tourism. Visitors come to Wasaga for the beach, the long sandy fresh water wonder of nature, not a bunch of incidental facilities like restaurants and amusements.
What does the Town want to do with the beach? Will they sell it off in turn to developers of vacation homes and resorts that will deny access to the beach by the public? Will Wasaga end up like some areas of Mexico’s shoreline? Is this Crown land even free to be sold under the colonial treaties with the Huron Wendat people of this area?
I read in the preamble to the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act 2006 a couple of provisions that may be relevant:
“2.(1) 1. To permanently protect representative ecosystems, biodiversity and provincially significant elements of Ontario’s natural and cultural heritage and to manage these areas to ensure that ecological integrity is maintained.” (emphasis added);
“4. Nothing in this Act shall be construed so as to abrogate or derogate from the protection provided for the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are recognized and affirmed in Section 35 of the Constitution Act 1982.”
These provisions need to be followed and respected with regard to Wasaga Beach.
Regarding the transfer of Nancy Island to the jurisdiction of the Historical Parks Act, I have no opinion as I am not aware of the significance of the island in the Nottawasaga River.