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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Enviro groups prepare opposition to kids' camp
WINNIPEG — Environmentalists plan to use a public meeting Thursday night to launch their fight against a Tim Horton children's camp being built at Meditation Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park.
Environmentalists say not enough is known about the water quality of Meditation Lake and the province should be more open about its plans to develop provincial parks.
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They say they will attend the open house at 7 p.m. at the Victoria Inn to press provincial officials on the reasons why the lake was chosen for the camp.
"This open house is not the end of the battle," said Eric Reder, Manitoba campaign director of the Wilderness Committee. "It's hardly the beginning of the battle."
Reder said Meditation Lake is well known for its algae. Last summer, there was an unexplained die-off of freshwater clams.
He also said there are better places for a camp than Meditation Lake, which until now is only accessible by foot. For a camp to be built, a road and hydro service will have to be extended.
Reder said a possible alternative location for the camp could be on nearby Lone Island Lake, which is more developed and has better water quality.
"It looks like someone who doesn't know enough about Meditation Lake made a bad decision," he said.
Gaile Whelan-Enns of Manitoba Wildlands said the decision to approve the camp shows the province does not have management plans for each of its parks.
"In the absence of management plans, you end up with business deals," she said.
Environmentalists say they asked for the public meeting to be postponed until they gather more information, but government denied their request.
Conservation Minister Stan Struthers and the Tim Horton Children's Foundation unveiled plans for the camp earlier this month. The foundation said the $10-million year-round camp will be open by 2011. It will be used primarily to give underprivileged kids a chance to attend summer camp and give others a chance to explore a piece of the province that has for the most part only been open to canoeists and backcountry hikers.
Struthers said his office invited Reder to go out to Meditation Lake with Conservation staff to answer his questions about the proposal, but Reder refused.
"I'm not going to deal in shady back-room conspiracies," Struthers said. "As minister, I have to deal in the facts. We want people to come forward and learn about the proposal. That's open to all Manitobans."
The province, which worked with the foundation for a year to pick a site, says the camp fits with its park management plan and will open up an area for wilderness recreation in a controlled way. There are no plans for cottage development.
A second public meeting is on the afternoon of May 2 at the Pinewood Lodge at Dorothy Lake.
Reder and Whelan-Enns said there are about 35 accredited kids' camps in Manitoba that Tim Horton's could easily partner with by investing in programming and equipment to fulfill its mandate.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 29, 2009 B2
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