Grassroots group aims to protect Lake Mindemoya on Manitoulin Island
A grassroots group of concerned citizens has formed to take a look at concerns surrounding Lake Mindemoya.
The residents of Central Manitoulin got together after Stan Drystek and his neighbour approached town council with their concerns.
"The concerns here really range," Drystek said. "One is fluctuating water levels, and there has been quite a lot of shoreline erosion in some places. And the other thing that is happening is there is quite a lot of shoreline development happening along the shoreline."
The stewardship committee has so far 12 members, including two councillors from Central Manitoulin itself.
The goal is to look at some of the problems facing the body of water and to come up with solutions and recommendations for the municipality.
"One of the best filters for water quality is natural shoreline -- it acts as a filter for any kind of runoff and that's rapidly disappearing on this lake, so we're concerned about that," said Drystek.
Purview of the lake right now falls mostly to Central Manitoulin, although M'Chigeeng First Nation shares some of the shoreline. The group has asked the committee for M'Chigeeng members to join its efforts.
Drystek said their goal is to be a proactive -- instead of a reactive -- group of citizens. They've seen lakes elsewhere encounter real trouble when it comes to things like development, and they're hoping to avoid those issues and to keep the water pristine.
The lake has been an integral part of the community's recreation activities, tourism, the environment and it's the main source of drinking water for Mindemoya.
Group member Allan Holroyd and his wife bought a cottage resort on the eastern shore back in 2008, and have started to see things like walleye and pickerel decline.
He told CTV News that it's the current talk around the campfire with fishing enthusiasts. They want to know where the fish have gone.
"And we've had zebra mussels, we've had temperature changes in the lake, we've had a whole bunch of stuff and it's going to happen again," said Holroyd.
"There's a lot of pressure being put on the lake and people retiring at 50-years-old now, got nothing to do, they want to go fishing so there's going to be more and more pressure."
He's been asking the Ministry of Natural Resources about restocking the lake and is hopeful they'll be more proactive in watching the supply.
"The province needs to get involved, there needs to be more money to the MNR, I know they're cash-strapped," said Holroyd.
One of the town councillors who sits on the committee is retired veterinarian Dale Scott. Scott said he's encouraged to see a committee like this form where the goal is to come up with solutions.
"I think council has a responsibility to look after the assets that we have" he said. "It's our town residents of Central Manitoulin, but it's also our tourists, visitors that keep our economy going, and we love to have them come and visit us. We want them to respect our municipality, but we want them to enjoy what we have and we don't want it to change."
Scott said typically, things get handled on the municipal level by a complaint coming into town and then bylaw has to look at it. He likes the proactive approach.
"By having a good, cohesive group that works together, it's important and I think education and communication -- to our residents on the lake especially -- will be key," he said.
One of the things the group said it would like is to see testing of the water to double from the current two times a month it's getting from Public Health Sudbury & Districts.
The group is meeting regularly right now, but once it gets more established, Drystek anticipates it may only have to meet once a season to look at the concerns they're seeing for that time of year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.