Once again, for the third time in as many years, the Ministry of Natural Resources, is disrupting life in Port Sydney.

You will recall a couple of years ago the ministry was going to close the dam that has been a walkway between the two halves of the town for over a hundred years. After a protracted fight and with the help of the Huntsville council, we recently have had a walkway installed along the side of the dam so that village life would not be threatened.

Then there is the Muskoka River Water Management Plan. For 60 years the previous water level plan maintained a fairly constant level throughout the recreational season and produced ample water for power production in Bracebridge. The new plan keeps the water level high well into the summer and creates much lower low water in the fall. This exposes soft shorelines to waves and wakes and is causing serious environmental damage as well as making docks hard to use in both seasons. The new regime of the MNR, therefore, not only jeopardizes the vulnerable shoreline but also limits the use and causes damage to the built structures around the lake.

Now, just because the river bottom at the dam is Crown land, “The first person that comes in and can meet the requirements” of the MNR to produce power, “Will be considered.”

With generating units, power lines and transformers at the dam, it is almost certain that people will be kept away from the area. The fact that there are thousands who come to the dam and falls park in the summer doesn’t seem to mean anything. With literally hundreds of dams around the province to choose from, why is the MNR even thinking of putting a power plant in the middle of a tourist community? For that matter, have they even investigated Tweedsmuir Green Power Group? They are not listed on any stock exchange, their head office is located on a residential street in Ottawa and there is nothing on the Internet about a power plant on the Salmon River. Alf Chaiton appears to have been an advisor to the mayor of Ottawa.

Isn’t it time that communities and their elected representatives were given the power to control this kind of development inside their boundaries rather than leaving these decisions to bureaucrats in the Ministry of Natural Resources?

Concerned people should contact the MNR at High Falls, let you councillor know your thoughts, or come to the council meeting on June 2 where Tweedsmuir Power Group will be seeking approval in principle for the installation of generators at the Port Sydney Dam.   

Ryan Kidd,
Port Sydney