Protesters slam Pelican Lake boat plan

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This article was published 20/05/2025 (221 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NINETTE — Dozens of irate residents are protesting the RM of Prairie Lake’s new program to regulate boat entry to Pelican Lake.

About 60 people gathered at the Ninette Gas Service on Monday to voice concerns about the cost and encroachment of a new “one boat, one lake” policy for the lake.

Essi Kruger, who organized the protest, said she will be impacted by the policy because it will reduce tourism and harm her business.

“If we lose sales like we did this weekend, I don’t know how long we can keep our doors open,” Kruger told the Sun. “That’s just the truth.”

The new policy, designed to prevent invasive species from entering the lake, introduced a number of changes for the boating season. Just one boat launch, in Ninette, is open to visitors, who must pay a $40 inspection fee to launch in the lake. Residents and people renting seasonal campsites are permitted to buy a $100 decal and gain access to the lake for the whole season, with the condition that they only use the boat in Pelican Lake.

Kruger said a significant portion of business takes place during the summer months, and fears that traffic will decline as launching a boat on Pelican Lake becomes more expensive and accesses to the lake are blocked off for visitors.

She said sales on the May long weekend were down 31 per cent compared to last year. The Ninette Gas Service shop sells fishing equipment and supplies for camping. Kruger said the $40 inspection fee is too high, and hopes to see that change.

“I think the main thing is to cut the cost.”

Other residents said that they believe the No. 1 problem with the policy is that they feel their rights to access the lake have been violated. Neil Windsor, who has been fishing at Pelican Lake for 60 years, gained a round of applause for a comment during the protest.

“I think it’s atrocious they can lock down a lake,” said Windsor.

He said the recent policy is going to impact his visits to the lake, where he comes to fish from his home in Miami, Man.

Hunter Houghton, a resident of Ninette who spoke at the protest, said everyone wants the lake to be healthy, but he felt there was a lack of transparency about the new program.

“Half a dozen people decided we can’t go in the lake,” he said. “The least we could do is let us vote for it.”

Reeve Darren Seymour, speaking to the Sun from the municipal office after Monday’s protest, said while he hears the concerns of the residents, he believes it is a small group that is opposed to the new program.

More than 300 decals have been sold already, he said, adding he has heard expressions of buy-in and support from locals.

Responding to concerns raised at the protest, Seymour said the locked launches around the lake, introduced as part of the new program, are important to keep costs down. If inspection stations were set up at multiple launches, extra staff would be needed, which is the main cost of the aquatic invasive species inspections.

In order to ensure boats are inspected before entering Pelican Lake, the RM decided to close all launches to visitors except the launch in Ninette.

“The cost of the program would be immense if we had to man the launches around the lake,” said Seymour. “Then the cost would be prohibitive to anybody that wanted to come boating here. So we tried to do it in a way that we could make it cost effective, that it wasn’t exorbitant for people to come and be a part of fishing on Pelican Lake or enjoying the lake.”

The $40 inspection fee for visitors at the Ninette boat launch is needed to cover part of the program’s cost, he said.

“We are in no way anticipating making money out of this program,” he said.

On the issue of impacting tourism, Seymour said he does not believe the program will drive away anyone who likes to use Pelican Lake. He said the biggest factors will be fishing and weather. And the program is designed to send all boat traffic through Ninette, where business owners are.

Seymour said the long-term health of the lake is the priority and damage would be worse to the local economy if zebra mussels entered the lake.

Earlier in the day, E & J Live Bait shop owner Eric Evans said he feels his business is going to be impacted as well. He said last year when the walleye fishing season started, he saw about 60 boats come through the main launch, but this year there were five — and he believes the drop is directly related.

“Seasonal pass sales are down. Everybody’s coming in not sure what’s going on. Transparency through this whole program has been lacking.”

Seymour said the municipality has applied to the province for funding to offset the cost of the program, but the RM won’t get an answer until June or July.

If the province does provide funding, Seymour said it will go toward bringing down the price next year or covering any shortfall from this season.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com