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Meditation Lake camp plans cancelled

By: Staff Writer

22/10/2009 2:39 PM | Comments: 8

Tim Hortons has scuttled plans to build a children's camp at Meditation Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park.

JOE.BRYKSA@FREEPRESS.MB.CA Enlarge Image

Tim Hortons has scuttled plans to build a children's camp at Meditation Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park.

WINNIPEG - A plan by Tim Hortons to open a youth camp in the Whiteshell has been scuttled by the province due to water concerns.

Conservation Minister Stan Struthers and the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation said they plan to look for another site in the Whiteshell for the year-round camp for underprivileged kids.

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"We appreciate the support of the provincial government in working to find and evaluate alternative sites in the Whiteshell," Dave Newnham, foundation vice-president, said. "We are confident another site will be found that will respect the environmental sustainability needs of the park, and provide a unique experience for children and youth from economically disadvantaged homes."

The Tim Hortons Foundation had originally chosen a site adjacent to Meditation Lake for the camp, but a public outcry from campers and environmentalists prompted the province to examine concerns that the lake could not support the kind of intensive development that the camp would bring.

Tim Hortons held open houses in the spring to detail its plans.

Struthers said the public input proved invaluable, adding he is confident the suggestions for alternative locations will lead to a new site within the Whiteshell.

Struthers said the province will maintain the Mediation Lake as a non-development area, restricted only to a walk-in camping experience.

Struthers said more open houses will be held later this fall as the province and Tim Hortons considers other locations.

The Tim Horton Children’s Foundation is a non-profit, charitable organization providing opportunities for children to develop into positive, contributing members of their communities.

It operates six camps in Canada and the U.S., and has sent 120,000 economically disadvantaged children to camp over the past 35 years at no cost to their families.

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8 Commentscomment icon

So they should use the old Camp Whiskey Jack in the Whiteshell. The province doesn't use it anymore and it's just sitting there decaying. Don't know why they didn't look at it in the first place. Arrogance? Wanting to create something new and destroy nature in the process.

I heard Tim Hortons was going to cancel the youth camp plans altogether in Manitoba because of the uproar.

What really frustrates me about this whole process is how the province allowed construction of an access road to begin (last winter I think) before any water quality studies had been conducted.
I have to wonder if any provincial offices were consulted before the construction of the access road began: was the heritage branch consulted to determine if any heritage resources would be impacted? I doubt it.
Were any other impact assessments carried out before they began construction of the access road? I doubt that too.
It's funny-interesting how some projects are able to get around the bureaucratic red-tape in this province.
IMHO, no construction at all should have begun on the road or anything before the proper studies were undertaken. It is only since the public outcry this spring that Tims and the province decided to do a water quality check. Regardless of how much of a benefit this camp will be for underprivileged kids, this process and the secret negotiations that went on between the province and Tim Hortons still makes me shake my head in wonder.

I'm just gona post this here but it's off topic.

@Winnipeg Free Press

The software for your readers comments is terrible.

YAAAAYYY!!!!
Good on your Rip Snortin donuts, now I dont have to continue boycotting your stores, LOL
Seriously though, Meditation was a poor choice and I for one am delighted to see it remain a non-development area. Not every square foot of land has to be developed.

nimby? exactly whose back yard is this? it's a water quality issue. try reading the article.

turns out the often insulted environmentalists were actually correct and had a position based on actual data and sound science. we would do well to pay more attention to their concerns about other issues.

Nice to hear - I am supportive of a Tim Hortons camp, but Meditation Lake was a poor choice. Nice to know MB Conservation followed up with an analysis.

This is a REALLY BAD case of N.I.M.B.Y.

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