Writer saddened by negative restrictions at Providence Bay dock

To the Expositor:

I am writing this letter to draw attention to the negative changes that have taken place at the Providence Bay dock. Until three years ago, the Providence Bay dock was a public friendly and accessible facility. Then, that all changed. Prior to that, it was owned and maintained by the federal government and was fully accessible and usable by the general public. It was then leased out to a private body. Since then, many negative restrictions have been put in place restricting public fishing from the dock, restricting public parking and eliminating a short ATV trail on public property. Recently, a local man and his young son tried to fish from the dock and were promptly told that this was not allowed. He, like many others, have fished from this facility for many years. The restricted parking makes it very inconvenient and perhaps dangerous for people with physical challenges to access the facility. Due to provincial and federal government policy changes, we have lost our once beautiful beach and now our public dock. These two things have created negativity by longtime and new tourists which hurts Providence Bay and Manitoulin tourism at a time when we need all the positive help that we can get. Please contact your provincial and federal Members of Parliament and voice your opinion.