Latest news with #RidingMountain
CTV News
19-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Clear Lake residents taking legal action against motorized boat ban
A group of Clear Lake residents is taking legal action against Parks Canada's ban of motorized boats. A group of Clear Lake residents is taking legal action against Parks Canada's ban of motorized boats. A group of Clear Lake residents is taking legal action against Parks Canada's ban on motorized boats. Last month, the government agency announced only non-motorized watercraft would be allowed on the lake and surrounding waters in 2025 in an attempt to stop the spread of zebra mussels. Now, a coalition of local organizations called 'Fairness for Clear Lake' has filed an application for judicial review of this decision. The group claims Parks Canada's decision was made without 'meaningful consultation, clear evidence, or regard for the economic, cultural and community impacts.' 'Whether you have a boat or you don't or whether you want boats back on the lake or not, I think we can all agree that decision-making at Riding Mountain National Park needs to be improved,' said Trevor Boquist, vice president of the Clear Lake Cottage Owners Association, at a town hall on Wednesday. 'It needs to include all stakeholders. We need to be able to participate and collaborate.' 'Fairness for Clear Lake' said the goal is to reverse the ban, uncover the evidence Parks Canada used to make its decision, and reinstate accountability in federal decision-making. CTV News has reached out to Parks Canada for comment.
CBC
17-06-2025
- CBC
Want to travel in Manitoba? Some restrictions may apply
The Bur Oak Trail is a one-kilometre, stroller-friendly walking loop sandwiched between the main road running through Birds Hill Provincial Park and residential homes on Mulder Drive in the Rural Municipality of Springfield. The trail is 20 metres from the nearest pavement. You'd have to walk it seven times to rack up 10,000 steps. No one would mistake this Winnipeg-area trail for wilderness — but it's off-limits right now due to sweeping provincial restrictions on backcountry travel during this unusual spring wildfire season. The curious case of the Bur Oak closure is not an isolated instance. Consider Turtle Mountain Provincial Park, which is 343 kilometres away from the nearest active wildfire in Manitoba, an 89-square-kilometre blaze under control in Sandilands Provincial Forest. It takes three and a half hours in a car to move between these two natural areas. Yet travel on most of the lakes and all the trails in Turtle Mountain is forbidden due to the same backcountry restrictions imposed upon all provincial parks on provincial parcels of Crown land. Then there's Riding Mountain National Park, which is very much in Manitoba, but falls under federal jurisdiction. All 370 kilometres of trails in Riding Mountain are open, along with with 36 backcountry campsites you can reserve right now with a couple of clicks on the Parks Canada reservation page. Similarly, the vast majority of parks, trails, wilderness areas and backcountry campsites in other Canadian provinces and most U.S. states are open regardless of the 2025 wildfire threat, save for those actually experiencing a wildfire, located close to a fire or considered unsafe due to the wobbly, charred tree trunks left behind from a recent blaze. For decades, Manitoba's practice of enacting blanket restrictions on backcountry travel by ordinary people on foot, on bicycles or in canoes or kayaks has stood out as unusual in North America. Civil servants and politicians alike have not been able to elucidate the rationale for the policy, beyond the insistence that these restrictions — which typically do not apply to licensed outfitters and resource-extraction industries — are necessary to prevent more fires from materializing. No provincial administration, regardless of whether the New Democrats or Progressive Conservatives are in power, has been able explain why Parks Canada, other provinces and U.S. states tend to draw circles around actual fires and tell people not to wander into them, while Manitoba attempts to enshroud every prairie crocus, poplar and pine cone in the province within the public-policy equivalent of bubble wrap. Efforts to get officials to explain the restrictions vary, depending on who's doing the talking. "We put them in place because of the potential for human-caused fires," said Kristin Hayward, the assistant deputy minister in charge of Manitoba's wildfire service and conservation officer service, speaking during a wildfire briefing on Monday. "We want to minimize people out on the landscape in places where fires could start." Hayward said the policy is not due to a lack of staff or other resources within Manitoba. But there are noticeable differences between the way this province manages backcountry use compared to other jurisdictions. Right next door in Ontario, backcountry travel in most provincial parks requires people to register, pay nightly fees and, usually, file a travel plan. This practice is in place in a variety of parks, including road-accessible Rushing River, relatively unvisited Woodland Caribou and the heavily-paddled canoe destination of Quetico. Registration allows Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources to manage visitor numbers, locate paddlers and hikers in the event of an emergency and collect some revenue to support the activities of staff within these parks. Manitoba typically does not manage backcountry travel. Hayward can be correct in stating this is not due to a lack of resources when this sort of management simply has not been a priority in this province. According to Premier Wab Kinew, however, a lack of provincial firefighting resources is what he calls "the actual reason" for the backcountry travel ban. "We can not afford to pull resources into dealing with the local fire situation in different parts of the province, given the severity that we see in the north," Kinew said in a scrum on June 6. The implication here is permit-holding outfitters, logging companies and miners can be trusted not to spark forest fires, while ordinary people carrying backpacks and paddles can not. Mike Moyes, Manitoba minister of the environment and climate change, made this explicitly clear last week. "We want to ensure that the resources are being put to the areas of greatest use in fighting these wildfires," Moyes said in an interview on June 10. "If we're having folks that inadvertently cause a wildfire, that can be really catastrophic in terms of of human safety, but also in terms of pulling resources from other areas." There are times when other jurisdictions have adopted a Manitoba-style blanket backcountry travel ban. Ontario, for example, enacted one for several weeks in 2023, when forests to the north and west of Lake Superior were on fire. This 2025 fire season in Manitoba has been significant. So far, 9,012 square kilometres have burned, which works out to 1.6 per cent of the province's total land mass. In other words, it is unsurprising to see the province impose blanket backcountry restrictions in this year of all years. Such restrictions were imposed during less severe fire seasons in the recent past, including those in 2006, 2011 and 2021. The question for officials is whether Manitoba's policies governing backcountry travel can be changed in a manner that would preclude the need for these restrictions during future wildfire emergencies. Climate changes has made more severe fire seasons inevitable. It is unclear whether Manitoba can adapt.
CTV News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
MP calls on Parks Canada to explain Clear Lake motorized boat ban
The member of parliament for Riding Mountain is calling on Parks Canada to explain its decision for a motorized watercraft ban on Clear Lake. On Thursday, MP Dan Mazier wrote a letter to the Riding Mountain field unit superintendent, asking Parks Canada to hold a public meeting to clarify its reasoning for the ban. 'The decision to impose a ban just before the May long weekend with inadequate notice, consultation, or clear justification, has blindsided the community and undermined months of preparation,' the letter states, adding that the lack of transparency has fueled public frustration. Mazier's letter goes on to say that Parks Canada was still telling people that motorized watercraft would be allowed on Clear Lake as recently as May 12. 'Parks Canada is a public agency. It is accountable to the people it serves,' it says. 'Yet increasingly, the public feels shut out of decisions that deeply affect their lives and livelihoods. That must change.' Mazier's plea comes after Parks Canada announced last week that only non-motorized watercraft will be permitted on the lake in 2025 in an effort to stop the spread of zebra mussels. In a statement, a spokesperson for Riding Mountain National Park said they recognize the important place Clear Lake holds in the hearts of many Manitobans, as well as the strong connection that Indigenous communities have to the lake. The spokesperson notes that last summer Clear Lake was closed to all watercrafts, which drew negative reactions from residents and business owners who were concerned it would stop people from visiting. However, the park notes, 2024 saw Riding Mountain's busiest year since 2021, with 347,418 visitors. 'Parks Canada understands this change is disappointing to some, especially those who complied with mandatory inspections and tagging in previous years,' the statement says. 'Parks Canada is implementing these changes in an effort to continue protecting Clear Lake so that its health and those of downstream waterbodies can be maintained and visitors and residents can continue to enjoy them in the future.' Mazier's full letter can be found online.
CTV News
20-05-2025
- CTV News
Petition calling to allow motorized boats on Clear Lake garners thousands of signatures
Due to the ongoing zebra mussel problem, motorboats are banned on Clear Lake this summer. A petition calling on Riding Mountain National Park to allow motorized watercraft on Clear Lake this summer has garnered more than 2,000 signatures. The petition, which is available on says park officials previously said motorized boating would be back for the 2025 season. However, shortly before the May long weekend, Parks Canada announced this would not be the case because of zebra mussels. 'This blindsided visitors and devastated local businesses that rely on boating tourism,' the petition says. 'If zebra mussels are a concern, the solution is inspection and education—not a full ban that punishes responsible users.' Now the petition is calling on Riding Mountain National Park and Parks Canada to keep its original commitment and implement 'fair and proven' measures to manage zebra mussels. 'We're not asking for excuses. We're asking for action,' the petition states. This petition comes after Parks Canada announced that it will continue to restrict motorized watercraft on the lake. The government says it's taking a precautionary approach to protect the health of Clear Lake and other nearby bodies of water and reduce the spread of zebra mussels.
CBC
18-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Motorized watercraft banned on Clear Lake in 'disappointing journey' to fight zebra mussels
Social Sharing Parks Canada is banning the use of motorized watercraft on Clear Lake this year in what it hopes will be an attempt to curtail the spread of zebra mussels. While the ban is causing turmoil for businesses, a First Nation in the area sees it as a sign of hope in a "disappointing journey" to fight the invasive species. The federal agency announced in a Friday bulletin it had made the "difficult decision" to impose the restriction for a second time since last year"to protect the health of Clear Lake" after zebra mussels were first detected in the lake in November 2023. Under the restriction, non-motorized watercraft — including kayaks, canoes and inflatables — can still operate in Riding Mountain National Park under certain conditions, which include an annual permit, limitations on which bodies of water are used, an inspection and a cleaning protocol. "We're happy with Parks Canada's decision," said James Plewak, former chief of the Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation, which borders the northwest corner of the lake. Plewak, who is also a senior official with a coalition of seven First Nations with interests in Riding Mountain National Park, said it has been a "disappointing journey" since the invasive species was first discovered. Parks Canada tried to contain zebra mussels by setting a two-kilometre underwater curtain at Boat Cove near Wasagaming last summer — but it dislodged just days after installation was completed. Months later, hundreds of live juvenile zebra mussels were found attached to docks and other structures near the east end of Clear Lake, indicating their spread was not isolated to the area where they had been originally found. Earlier this year Park Canada said the full extent of where the zebra mussels have spread is yet unknown, but eradicating them would require for the entire population to be identified, isolated and contained from the rest of the lake. Plewak is concerned that if zebra mussels migrate to shallower parts of the lake, they might distribute faster and trickle into outlets that flow into the Little Saskatchewan River and downstream through several communities. "The decision is based upon erring on the side of caution," he said. While Parks Canada has the jurisdiction to issue bans on Clear Lake, First Nations have a treaty right over Riding Mountain National Park, Plewak said. "We have a different level of responsibility towards the lake," he said. "Parks Canada made a responsible decision there and the First Nation is in support of it." Ban stands to 'ruin' business Kelsey Connor, who has been operating the Clear Lake Marina and the Martese tour boat out of Wasagaming in Riding Mountain National Park since 2015, said Parks Canada's decision is putting into question whether or not his business will cease to exist. "At the moment … I think that our business is ruined," he told CBC. The ban came as a surprise to Connor. He said Parks Canada had indicated to him this summer it would be "business as usual" on the lake, so the marina had already hired staff for the upcoming months in hopes of bouncing back from last year's restrictions. Connor learned of the decision an hour before the federal agency made it public on Friday, coming as a "complete shock" to him. "We trusted Parks Canada … and we felt obligated to hold up our end of the bargain and provide some services for visitors," he said. "We've only been positive contributors to the zebra mussel fight." The watercraft operated by Connor's marina pose no risk of introducing invasive species, he said, arguing using it at the capacity his company does could help with the problem. "I don't know why this is happening … It's hard to believe that it's not permanent because we just can't operate a business like this." Parks Canada said is taking on comprehensive research this year to determine "how motorized watercraft affect ecological, socioeconomic and cultural components of Clear Lake." But the federal agency said the approach it's taking is a balancing act between helping protect all water bodies in Riding Mountain National Park and ensuring lake users can resume the activities they missed last year, after similar bans on watercrafts were imposed. Kyle Bazylo, member of the Clear Lake Cabin Owners' Association, said the government had a chance of halting the spread of zebra mussels when they were first discovered on the water, but "they dropped the ball from Day 1." Now there is little to no possibility of slowing it down, he said, and given how scattered zebra mussels are already on the lake, he thought Parks Canada should "admit defeat" and learn how to live with them. "I don't know why they're playing this game," he said. "The lack of guidance and management … is frustrating." Bazylo said the watercraft ban is "a terrible decision" that he believes could also affect property values if people's worries lead them to sell off their cottages. "Money [was] wasted by poor decision-making, and there's no accountability, and there should be some kind of accountability here," he said.
