It’s time for people to sit up and take notice
To the Expositor:
I have just recently returned from a great week’s vacation on Manitoulin Island. Something we have enjoyed and appreciated for over 50 years. The fall colours were truly spectacular, the hospitality outstanding and the generosity and community spirit exemplified by the people and Rotarians of Gore Bay and their Annual Thanksgiving Charity Produce Auction, and the weather was pretty good too.
There was one main issue that shed a cloud over our week. We stayed at a resort on Lake Manitou. The lake level was so low that I could not get into my boat least of all use it. No, it’s not the size of the Queen Mary – it’s a modest 16 ft. pontoon boat.
Last year we stayed at a resort on Lake Mindemoya – same thing – the water was not even deep enough at the mooring where we stayed. And the year before on Lake Kagawong where they released so much water through the power plant that it was impossible to enter the mooring where we were staying.
The economy of Manitoulin Island is very dependent on a healthy tourist industry, much of which takes advantage of the beautiful inland lakes. It is very obviously clear that management of the water levels of these lakes is completely out of control.
Surely, someone responsible for tourism on Manitoulin Island is not up to their job. Low water levels render the marine maps basically useless. Is there a qualified, certified and accredited hydrologist employed or engaged to see that the lakes levels are maintained at a constant optimum level? With safety in mind too.
Is tourism on Manitoulin Island really a serious business or just a way of holding meetings to pass the winter months and do nothing in the spring?
Time for someone to sit up and take notice – before tourists go someplace else.
Lionel W.F. Rudd C.E.T.
Sudbury
