{"id":197194,"date":"2025-07-29T10:24:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T14:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/?p=197194"},"modified":"2025-07-30T10:20:30","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T14:20:30","slug":"wasaga-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wasaga-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"Did you know your favourite provincial park could be on the sales block? | Letters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The current Ontario government proposal to sever part of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park for private development and hotel building is yet another troubling example of the ongoing attack on Ontario\u2019s natural heritage. 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 and exempt from environmental laws.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"float: left; margin-right: 14px;\"><strong><broadstreet-zone zone-id=\"45658\" keywords=\"\" soft-keywords=\"true\" zone-alias=\"\"><\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The table is being set to undermine Ontario\u2019s system of protected lands started in 1893 when Algonquin Park was established. The government\u2019s focus on unchecked development comes at the expense of nature, threatening iconic parks such as Arrowhead, Killarney, Sand Banks, Quetico, Bon Echo, and Frontenac\u2014each 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 our province\u2019s natural treasures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the Red Line. We must stand against the government\u2019s contempt for conservation and their disconnect from the people\u2019s love for Ontario\u2019s parks and natural landscapes. The current proposal to remove nearly one-third\u2014645 acres\u2014of Wasaga Beach Park is alarming, but it\u2019s just a glimpse of the broader threat: legislative changes that make it easier and faster to remove land from parks. These amendments would bypass necessary legislative approval for land removals beyond 1%, weakening protections that preserve biodiversity, recreational spaces, and ecological health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ironically much of Ontario parks system was created by previous Progressive Conservative governments. Weakening it risks turning parks into vulnerable assets for short-term profit, diluting Ontario\u2019s natural legacy established by Premiers like Davis and Harris.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We must prioritize long-term conservation above all to ensure Ontario\u2019s parks endure for future generations. The Parks and Conservation Reserves Act must be upheld as the critical shield protecting these areas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gord Miller \u2013 former Environmental Commissioner of Ontario and Chair of Earthroots<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bracebridge<\/p>\n\n\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\">Don\u2019t miss out on Doppler!<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/dont-miss-out-on-doppler\/\"><u>here<\/u><\/a> to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.<br \/>\nLocal news in your inbox so you don&#8217;t miss anything!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a style=\"background: #5cb85c url('https:\/\/d1iczxrky3cnb2.cloudfront.net\/red_logo.png') no-repeat 37px; color: #fff; text-decoration: none; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; display: inline-block; font-size: 16px; padding: 15px 38px; padding-left: 75px; -webkit-border-radius: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 2px; border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0 1px 0 0 #1f5a89; text-shadow: 0 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);\" href=\"https:\/\/donorbox.org\/support-huntsville-doppler\">Click here to support local news<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><broadstreet-zone zone-id=\"45657\" keywords=\"\" soft-keywords=\"true\" zone-alias=\"\"><\/broadstreet-zone>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The current Ontario government proposal to sever part of Wasaga Beach Provincial Park for private development and hotel building is yet another troubling example of the ongoing attack on Ontario\u2019s [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":183385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2437,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-letters","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Did you know your favourite provincial park could be on the sales block? 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