Apr 172011
 

The Honourable John Wilkinson
Minister of the Environment
77 Wellesley Street West
11th Floor, Ferguson Block
Toronto, ON  M7A 2T5

April 17, 2011

Request for an appeal of an MOE decision regarding the proposed Bala Falls hydroelectric power plant

Dear Mr. Minister,

As co-owner and curator of Bala’s Museum, a building that will be historically designated this spring, I am understandably concerned about the cultural heritage significance of Bala Falls. I hereby request an appeal of the MOE’s recent decision.

Although the heritage impact assessment prepared by Historica Research Ltd. for Swift River Energy states in their evaluation (page ii) that “The area of the Bala Falls extending from the park on the south shore of the Muskoka River to the park on the north side is a distinct cultural heritage landscape of water management, power generation, tourism and transportation”, I believe a project to re-introduce hydro electricity generation will seriously threaten the cultural heritage landscape of our falls.

I disagree with the statement by Historica Research that power generation is part of the “distinct cultural heritage landscape” of the Bala Falls. There has been no power generation there for 54 years and few residents of Bala can recall when it existed at the North Falls on a very small scale.

The Environmental Screening/Review Report in Section 2.2.2 (First Nations) neglects to tell the full story of the significance of the Bala Falls as a cultural heritage landscape for the Wahta Mohawks. When the Mohawks arrived by steamer at the tiny community known as Bala Falls in 1881 it was necessary for them to portage past the Falls with all their worldly goods to a scow or raft that was taking them to their new life at the Gibson Reserve. This first portage by the Mohawks will be honoured and remembered by a special drumming ceremony on June 25th, 2011, by the Wahta women drummers as part of DOORS OPEN. It is most appropriate that they will be singing and drumming the Water Song. As a historian, I am concerned that this traditional portage that was used by our First Nations and later by tourists, YMCA campers and cottagers will no longer be accessible because of dangerous waters created by hydro generation.

In the Statement of Environmental Values, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture states “Cultural heritage is critical to a healthy society. It is key to defining identity and ensuring the well-being of Ontarians, both individually and collectively. Our provincial heritage resources are non-renewable and irreplaceable, and government has a role to play as trustee in their protection and preservation. Cultural heritage resources are part of the environment, and recognized as such under the Environmental Assessment Act.” I believe that blasting an intake channel, clearing trees and grubbing goes against the Ministry of Tourism and Culture’s Statement of Environmental Values in that once rock is blasted it is non-renewable and irreplaceable.

Many of the mature pine trees to be cleared and grubbed were given as a gift to the Town of Bala by the Canadian Pacific Railway a quarter of a century ago.

Bala’s Museum with Memories of Lucy Maud Montgomery is recognized around the world and has had over 100,000 visitors in the last eighteen summers. Many of these visitors are from the Orient where L.M. Montgomery is most revered . As a major tourism draw for Bala, we are well aware that Japanese, Chinese and Korean visitors to our museum, also make a stop at the Bala Falls. In each of their cultures water falls are respected and, in a sense, worshiped. These same visitors are aware that in Lucy Maud Montgomery’s diary she wrote:

One thing I love about Bala is the roar of its falls. When I lie in bed at night it sounds exactly like the old surge roar of the Atlantic on some windy, dark-gray night on the old north shore.

(Vol. III, The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Bala diary entry on Sunday, July 30, 1922)

If this proposed power plant is allowed to happen, its very presence will deeply impact the economic viability of Bala’s Museum with Memories of Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Further, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture has stated that “Cultural heritage conservation also serves both economic and social needs and involves the interpretation and wise use of cultural heritage resources for educational, commercial, recreational and tourism purposes. These all play important roles in economic and community development, while also contributing to a sense of place.” ( Statement of Environmental Bill of Rights for the Ministry of Tourism and Culture).

Bala’s Falls are a cultural heritage resource and already are used for educational, recreational and tourism purposes. Bala has developed around them and the falls do give us a “sense of place”. It would not be “a wise use of [this] cultural heritage resource” to have a power plant thrust in the midst of Bala creating dangerous, fast water that threatens swimmers, canoeists, scuba divers and picnickers. Chain link fencing surrounding the intake, power plant and viewing deck is hardly welcoming to tourists. It will go against the District of Muskoka’s Official Plan that requires that development in the area of the falls “occur in an aesthetically pleasing manner and in a fashion that will protect the quality of the natural and cultural environment.”

As an executive member of the Muskoka branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, I fear for the protection of the heritage-designated (2002) Burgess Church, also known as the stone church. When this church was built in 1925, members of the congregation collected Muskoka stone for the façade of the church.

The mortar and stone will be at risk when an intake channel will be blasted out of Precambrian rock a mere 32 metres away. Equally frightening is the prospect of a heritage register listed wooden building, Purk’s Place, having blasting done beside it. Built circa 1908, it has been a boat livery for over 100 years. Swift River Energy’s figure 5.2 of the Environmental Screening Review Report shows the blasted channel intake to be some 4 metres from the north west corner of Purk’s Place. May I remind you that the Environmental Bill of Rights states that “The people of Ontario have a right to a healthful environment” and that “The people of Ontario have as a common goal the protection, conservation and restoration of the natural environment for the benefit of present and future generations.”

On November 19th 2010, at the Architectural Conservancy Annual Awards Dinner, the Save the Bala Falls group received the prestigious Margaret and Nicholas Hill for their outstanding work to preserve a cultural heritage landscape.

The local (Muskoka) Architectural Conservancy has repeatedly asked the Municipal Council for a Heritage Conservation District in Bala that includes Bala Falls in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. Community petitions with over 1000 signatures have also asked that Bala’s falls be protected as heritage.

If one of the purposes of the Environmental Bill of Rights is “to provide sustainability of the environment”, heritage resource conservation contributes to that sustainability. Conservation of Bala’s cultural landscape with unimpeded access to the shore line is vital and the right of people both living in or visiting Bala under the Environmental Bill of Rights.

Yours very truly.

Linda Jackson-Hutton
Curator and Co-Owner
Bala’s Museum with Memories of Lucy Maud Montgomery

c.c.
Mr. Adam Sanzo
Project Evaluator, Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch, M.O.E.

Mr. Michael Harrison
Supervisor, Project Review Unit, Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch, M.O.E.

Ms. Agatha Garcia-Wright
Director, Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch, M.O.E.

Karen McGhee, Swift River Energy Ltd.

Norm Miller, MPP for Muskoka-Parry Sound

Tony Clement, MP for Parry Sound – Muskoka
The Honourable Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism and Culture
Brad Duguid, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure

Linda Jeffrey, Minister of Natural Resources

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