Blindsided by boat ban By: Connor McDowell Posted: 3:03 AM CDT Saturday, May. 17, 2025 Last Modified: 2:58 PM CST Friday, Jan. 9, 2026

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/05/2025 (320 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Cottage and business owners at Clear Lake say they were blindsided when Parks Canada announced Friday that motorboats are banned from the lake, reversing its January decision to allow them this season.

Several members of the community told the Sun on Friday that the policy change came as a complete surprise. They said the reversal has created business uncertainty and disrupted vacation plans.

In a news bulletin Friday morning, Parks Canada said only non-motorized watercraft will be allowed on Clear Lake and outlying waterbodies for 2025 while the agency continues to study the spread of zebra mussels.

Parks Canada did not directly answer the Sun on the question of what changed between January and May, but restated information that it had posted online.

“Parks Canada staff have been working hard with many others, including Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation and local stakeholders, and it has become clear that there is a lack of data about how motorized vessels will impact the spread of zebra mussels in Clear Lake,” the spokesperson said in an email.

Kelsey Connor, operator of Clear Lake Marina and the Martese tour boat, told the Sun he had no idea the announcement was coming despite continued contact with Parks Canada leading up to Friday.

“This news has completely blindsided us,” Connor said in an email to the Sun. “We’ve hired dozens of excited, eager staff for the summer, made bookings and reservations for families and groups on The Martese, and spent significant sums of capital preparing to re-open the business.”

The abrupt news that boats would be banned this year has left him feeling “disgusted.” He said 2025 was a hopeful recovery period, as the business suffered a loss in 2024 due to similar restrictions from Parks Canada.

He said he had been led to believe business would be back in action this year — until news broke on Friday.

“No warning, no heads up. Now what?” said Connor. “It’s the May long weekend. The unofficial beginning of our season. Instead of completing tasks and projects to open the business and serve visitors, I must sleeplessly ruminate on this.”

The Martese received an exemption in 2024 to operate on the lake during the ban, along with emergency vessels and one vessel from Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation.

Wasagaming Chamber of Commerce president George Hartlen told the Sun in a phone interview Friday that it is hard to say how the boat ban will impact business this season. He said based on last year’s bans, there will likely be cancellations in accommodation rentals, but the impact on businesses such as food vendors is still an unknown.

In an email to the Sun, Parks Canada said a concern with motorized boats is that water intakes and bilges, a feature of motorboats, may spread mussels around the lake at an increased rate. The agency plans to study the effects.

“Working in partnership with others, including Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation and local stakeholders, in 2025, Parks Canada will initiate a comprehensive research study to understand the ecological and socio-economic impacts of motorized watercraft use in Riding Mountain National Park.”

The goal of the policy is to slow the spread of zebra mussels and to mitigate potential damage downstream from Clear Lake if the mussels spread. The lake connects to the Little Saskatchewan River and the Assiniboine River.

Balancing the health of the lake with impacts to the business and recreation community presents a “no-win” situation, Hartlen told the Sun.

Stephen Gainsborough, a cottager in the area, told the Sun that he may soon put his new cottage and boat up for sale. Gainsborough purchased the cottage in 2022 and enjoyed it for one season before last year’s boat came into effect. He said if things don’t change, he will look to other areas for his recreational needs.

“The whole idea of being in a position to be able to have a cabin and buy a boat like we did, was to create family memories and stuff, right? And this is just squashing any opportunity to do that,” said Gainsborough. “It’s awful. It really is. It’s terrible.”

The Brandon resident said family members from Alberta planned to come to the cabin this summer, bringing six kids between the ages of seven and 18. He is now unable to use the watersports boat again, and said another season of replacement activities won’t do.

“That’s what we did last year. We played fetch with our dogs and stuff. We just kind of made it work for the summer. And then now it’s a complete shutdown again, right? There’s really no point staying invested up there and continuously paying to keep a cabin up there and keep a boat.”

He said he, his wife and daughter aren’t into kayaking and other activities, which are allowed on Clear Lake as non-motorized watercraft. If the bans continue, he says he’ll start to look elsewhere for lake recreation.

“It’s most likely going to be put up for sale if things don’t change.”

Riding Mountain Conservative MP Dan Mazier could not be reached for comment on Friday. His office referred to a statement on Mazier’s social media page, where the MP criticized the sudden change of plans.

“Parks Canada’s decision … is completely unacceptable,” wrote Mazier. “There continues to be a blatant lack of transparency and respect for the public by Parks Canada. Locals, businesses, and visitors have been left in the dark. The constant flip-flopping has created chaos and deep uncertainty.”

Parks Canada first announced the discovery of live zebra mussels in Clear Lake in November of 2023. All recreational watercraft were banned starting May 2024 as Parks Canada looked to review the infestation and contain it.

Efforts continued to August, when the agency installed an underwater curtain to contain the mussels at Boat Cove, but the curtain was damaged by heavy winds and waves. Weeks after installation, Parks Canada announced it would abandon the curtain, which had been rendered ineffective. In September 2024, mussels were found in a separate part of the lake, at the east end.

The announcement in January that Parks Canada would allow boats under a “one-boat, one-lake” policy was intended to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species from Clear Lake to other bodies of water. The policy would ensure boats were inspected before being launched into the lake, and that was the stated plan for 2025.

At the time, Parks Canada said there is no hope of eradicating the mussels.

Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation Chief Dwayne Blackbird could not be reached for an interview on Friday.

Dead zebra mussels were found in the Assiniboine River late last year. Zebra mussels have also been found in Lake Winnipeg and the Red River.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com