Three trails including Fraser Road
MANITOULIN—The snowmobile season on Manitoulin has ended on a low note with the news that three major sections of trail across Manitoulin—Honora Bay, Sandfield and Billings (Fraser Road)—have closed for the foreseeable future.
Green Bay farmer Bruce Wood, after first being spooked by Bill 100, the Ontario Trails Act, 2015, has decided to go with his initial reaction and cancel his agreement with the Manitoulin Snowdusters Snowmobile Club, blocking access to his Honora Bay trail for next year’s season.
He said he was swayed by a number of articles he read in the Ontario Farmer newspaper penned by Elizabeth Marshall, director of research for the Ontario Landowners’ Association.
“I went to see a lawyer and he pointed out a number of problems (with Bill 100 and his contract with the Snowdusters),” he told The Expositor.
Most of all, he added, was the contingent in Bill 100 that states that the minister can declare a ‘special trail.’ This is the same reasoning that caused a Clinton, Ontario landowner to pull his 600 acres of Sandfield land from the Snowdusters trail system.
“It also got me when I saw it in the Official Plan (the Northeast Town’s) that my property was designated as ‘trails’,” Mr. Wood added. “I didn’t want to see that on a map. What happens if years down the road I didn’t want that anymore. I got them to change that.”
He said he learned from his lawyer “that if something happened on my property, the Snowdusters won’t pay my legal fees. I’d be left out on a limb.”
He said he also learned that as soon as the contract is signed, it gives the Snowdusters the right to create trails anywhere on the property. Mr. Wood admits that this has never been a problem and that the Snowdusters have always sought permission before doing anything, but the ‘could factor’ alarms him.
Mr. Wood said he has fielded three calls from other Island landowners, including one from a Meldrum Bay property owner who is considering pulling their property, “and they were already uncomfortable to begin with.”
“As of the end of the season, we don’t have a trail from Little Current to Manitowaning, from Manitowaning to Mindemoya or from Kagawong to M’Chigeeng (due to a dispute between the landowner and the municipality, not Bill 100),” said Brad Middleton, Snowdusters spokesperson.
Mr. Middleton said he is concerned with the bad publicity being received by Bill 100, largely thanks to the OLA and its “fear mongering” tactics. He’s also concerned as to what this means for next year’s season.
“Next year is the first year you have to buy permits online; they will no longer be available in stores for purchase,” he said. “I’m worried that people won’t buy in.”
“I don’t think the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) is doing nearly enough in lobbying the provincial government,” he continued. “Bill 100 has passed second reading and is on to the committee stage,” Mr. Middleton added, noting that the OFSC should be at those committee hearings.
“There are obvious holes in it,” he admitted of Bill 100. “Such as not including a definition of ‘easement’ and the fact that the minister can declare a special trail. It is my hope that they revamp the bill over the summer.”
“As we end the season, things aren’t looking bright,” Mr. Middleton continued. “The OLA just keeps stoking the fire on this thing.”
Mr. Middleton said the Snowdusters would be looking into alternate routes for all three of the cancelled portions of trail this spring and summer.
“It’s not that we’re attacking the skidoo club, it’s that the province is using the skidoo club (to gain access to trails),” Mr. Wood added. “In the past there’s never been too much of a problem, and if there was one, it was rectified. It’s the fact that they just say ‘trails.’ I don’t want four-wheelers across there or any other stuff.”
