Transferring ownership of…

Transferring ownership of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park would set a very dangerous precedent that provincial parks are for sale. These are meant for all the people of Ontario, not a select few.

Hundreds of thousands of Ontarians enjoy the beaches each year. The Provincial Park and Conservation Reserves land disposition is regulated under Sections 9(3) and 9(4) of the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act. Section 9(4) specifies that “The Lieutenant Governor in Council may not order the disposition of an area of a provincial park or conservation reserve that is 50 hectares or more or 1 per cent or more of the total area of the provincial park or conservation reserve, unless,

(a) the Minister first reports on the proposed disposition to the Assembly;

(b) the Minister tables the proposed new boundaries of the provincial park or conservation reserve with the Assembly; and

(c) the Assembly endorses the proposed new boundaries of the provincial park or conservation reserve. 2006, c. 12, s. 9 (4).”

In addition, transferring ownership of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park lands is not required to support beach-related tourism re-development plans in the Town of Wasaga Beach. On the contrary, it is thanks to the active protection of the Recovery Program at Wasaga Beach Provincial Park that piping plovers and their habitat can coexist with a thriving beach destination.

This proposal should not be approved as it is short sited and will weaken the protection that currently exists for provincial park lands.