Summary
As all old photographs and postcards, and local knowledge, and all historical books about Bala confirm that the portage between the Moon River and Lake Muskoka is south of the north Bala falls, and as obstructing a portage is not allowed by the Public Lands Act, we wrote this letter to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Detail
In 2011 the proponent announced they were abandoning their Option 2 proposal and in 2012 they released an Addendum which provided some information on a new proposal which they refer to as Alternative 1A. Included was this diagram which shows it would occupy virtually all of the Crown land south of the north falls (you can click on all images below for a larger view).
Old postcards and photographs show that portaging between Lake Muskoka and the Moon River was always done south of the north Bala falls. For example, the postcard below was taken before 1924, and shows (well-dressed) people in canoes directly south of the north falls.
And the upper section of the postcard below from August 5, 1905 also shows canoes on the shore south of the north Bala falls.
Perhaps the most interesting is the photograph below, which would have been taken after 1901 (as that is when this highway bridge over the south channel was built) and before 1907 (when the railway bridge over the south channel was built, the Bala #2 generating station was later built in 1924, and the Burgess Memorial Church (Bala Presbyterian Church) was later built in 1926). The image below is a zoomed-in view which shows canoes south of the north Bala falls. The full image is here, it was taken from the south shore of the Moon River, and shows both the north Bala falls and on the right is the south channel. By zooming-in (press Ctrl and +) you can see the original Bala United Church (above the trees in Margaret Burgess Park), Captain Tooke’s boat docked to the right of the canoes on the shore south of the north Bala falls, and even the south dam which was built in 1899.
In addition to the above photographs and local knowledge, all three of the historical books written specifically about Bala confirm that the portage was, and continues to be, south of the north falls. This is significant, since Section 65(4) of Ontario’s Public Lands Act does not allow a portage to be obstructed, such as by the proponent’s current proposal. We therefore wrote this letter to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The MNR responded by saying they needed evidence the portage was established when the initial Crown land patent was granted (that is, when the province first granted private ownership of the land). For this proof, see our next article.