Advocacy for Clear Lake is proactive: Moses

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This article was published 12/04/2024 (647 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Proactive advocacy prompted the recent letter to federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault over the potential closure of Clear Lake to boat traffic because of zebra mussels, the provincial minister who wrote the letter told the Sun Thursday.

“We clearly wanted to advocate to the federal government the impacts that Clear Lake has, not only on our local economy and community tourism, but also the broader Manitoba community,” Jamie Moses, minister of economic development, investment, trade and natural resources, said in a phone interview.

In the letter, Moses urged Guilbeault to “abandon this decision and to continue to allow boat traffic to operate in a responsible way for the 2024 season.”

Parks Canada, however, has not yet issued an official decision regarding the use of the lake.

“Parks Canada has been looking at all the options, and we have been doing that for several months,” Dameon Wall, spokesperson for Riding Mountain National Park, said Wednesday at the Association of Manitoba Municipalities spring convention in Brandon.

“That does include the potential to not see any boat traffic on Clear Lake, but that decision has not been made,” Wall said.

He assured the municipal representatives attending a session on aquatic species prevention that as soon as a decision is made, it will be widely communicated.

Many Manitobans are anxiously awaiting that decision, as expressed by multiple rural leaders at the AMM session.

Critics argue that Parks Canada has not sufficiently engaged with important stakeholders about the potential closure, nor were they informed of the public’s ability to comment on the ongoing impact assessment for Clear Lake.

“We obviously understand about the comment period, but we want to make sure that there is direct engagement with the really important stakeholders,” Moses said.

The comment period began on Feb. 9 and was set to close on March 10, then extended to March 31. Riding Mountain National Park first posted to social media platforms Facebook and X about the public comment period on March 25.

A representative for Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa Conservative MP Dan Mazier stated that the public comment period was only extended after Mazier raised his concerns with Parks Canada. Mazier sent letters to Guilbeault twice regarding Parks Canada’s consultation policies and the potential closure of the lake — first on Feb. 26, next on March 8.

In a written response to Mazier dated March 18, Guilbeault said, “Riding Mountain National Park met its legal obligation related to impact assessment when the detailed impact assessment was posted to the public registry for a 30-day comment period.”

In a statement provided to the Sun on Wednesday, Mazier said: “Parks Canada has failed miserably to consult with local stakeholders on the future of Clear Lake — and it shows. It appears Parks Canada’s definition of consultation is one based off making a decision and then telling the public what that decision is.

“They have consistently withheld important information and failed to share information equally amongst different stakeholders,” Mazier said.

“I have not been informed of a single stakeholder that was advised in writing on the detailed impact assessment prior to the initial public comment period deadline. How is it fair not to tell the public about the public comment process?”

» cmcconkey@brandonsun.com