Removal of additional Provincial Park lands will be made possible province-wide as a result of proposed legal changes
Toronto | Traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – The Ontario government has proposed removing 645 acres of the beaches and an island in Ontario’s most-visited Provincial Park and turning them over to development. This represents almost one third of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park. The proposal also makes it easier and faster for the government to remove lands or entire parks across the province. This will be done by changing the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act which currently requires a study, report, and agreement of the members of the Ontario Legislature before lands totalling more than 1% of a park area can be removed or sold. The proposal aims to remove this portion of the Act.
“Provincial Parks belong to the people of Ontario and are meant to be protected forever. It is appalling that the current government is trying to give away big parts of our most popular park and make it easy to give more park land away in the future” said Tim Gray, Executive Director of Environmental Defence. “These beachfront lands on Georgian Bay are worth millions of dollars and owned by the people of Ontario.They should never be a gift to well connected developers”.
Background
Ecological values in the The Wasaga Beach Provincial Park lands to be lost include:
- Known Piping Plover habitat, which is listed as endangered under both the federal Species at Risk Act and the provincial Endangered Species Act.
- Mature sand dunes, which provide important ecological and stabilizing functions including providing a protective buffer against high water, wind and storm events for private or adjacent lands, which is an important role as the climate changes.
- Significant vegetation communities and provincially significant wetlands.
- “The Point” located in Beach Area 1 which is one of those targeted to be removed is designated as a provincially significant earth science Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI).
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).”
Resources
Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/06p12#BK10
Wasaga Beach Provincial Park land removal and proposed amendments to Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act, EBR posting: https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/025-0694
Wasaga Beach Provincial Park: Beach Management Secondary Plan:
https://www.ontario.ca/page/wasaga-beach-provincial-park-beach-management-secondary-plan
Wasaga Beach Provincial Park Management Plan: https://www.ontario.ca/page/wasaga-beach-provincial-park-management-plan
ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.
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For more information or to request an interview, please contact:
Karishma Porwal, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca
