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Province, Tim Hortons outline plans for Meditation Lake camp

The Whiteshell Provincial Park

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The Whiteshell Provincial Park

Map shows the proposed location of the camp.

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Map shows the proposed location of the camp. (HANDOUT)

Map shows the proposed location of the camp.

Enlarge Image

Map shows the proposed location of the camp. (HANDOUT)

The Tim Horton Children's Foundation and Manitoba government outlined plans today to building a $10 million year-round camp complex near Meditation Lake in the Whiteshell.

David Newnham, foundation vice-president, and Conservation Minister Stan Struthers said creation of the camp falls under the province’s plans to make some areas of Manitoba’s wilderness more accessible.

Struthers said the province will host two open houses to outline the camp’s plans and other development. They will be held at in the evening of April 30 at the Victoria Inn in Winnipeg and the afternoon of May 2 at the Pinewood Lodge at Dorothy Lake.

The province has been working with The Tim Horton Children’s Foundation for the past year to chose an appropriate site.

"We have 110,000 lakes in this province and some of them would clearly not be environmentally suitable," Struthers said. "We took our time to make sure that we found a lake that really worked from the perspective of the foundation but also one that allowed us to move forward in a balanced way to protect the environment."

The proposal has come under fire from cottagers and an environmental group because of the province’s refusal to develop a management plan for its protected areas and because of the secret nature of the talks to date.

Newnham said the site near Meditation Lake — it will accommodate 260 youth during the summer — was chosen because it’s close enough to the city but still in a wilderness area. Programming will be aimed at teaching leadership and wilderness camping skills to underprivileged youth.

The foundation operates six other camps for disadvantaged youth in Canada and the U.S.

The Whiteshell camp would include several year-round buildings, Newnham said, consisting of two sleeping quarters that would accommodate 65 of the youth, a dining hall, a health and wellness unit, a creative arts centre and a maintenance building.

The province will help by extending a road to the site. Hydro must also be extended.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

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