Whats New

WHAT'S NEW

Premier of Manitoba
204 Legislative Building
450 Broadway Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0V9

The Honourable Gary Doer

August 19, 2008

Re: Letter from Manitoba Conservation, August 2008 related to Park District Service Fees

Dear Premier Doer:

The Whiteshell Cottagers Association Inc. has received many inquiries regarding the letter from Manitoba Conservation which requests the assistance from cottagers, commercial operators and special consideration organizations " in the calculation and apportionment of shares relating to the municipal type services ". The letter requests that the above parties provide an updated site plan of their properties in order to assist with the compiling of Manitoba Conservation's database information on cottages.

The letter states, in part, that should Manitoba Conservation not receive a response by September 19, 2008, they will assume that " your cottage has four (4) bedrooms and that your vacation home " footprint " is (the total square footage of buildings on your lot and the public reserve in front of a lakefront lot) is the maximum allowable."

The WCA Inc. has received many responses from our members expressing much concern over the contents of the letter. Some comments received are: " heavy handed", "feel threatened" and "smacks of negative billing".

The WCA Inc. wishes to bring to your attention the following concerns:

1. How can a database that has the potential to be complied with inaccurate information be used to apportion shares in a system that has been characterized as "fair"?

2. What are the credentials of the two students that are compiling and verifying service user information across the province for Manitoba Conservation? This is important as the information will have far reaching implications for the users of Provincial Parks.

3. The Manitoba Conservation website 2008 Property Service Fee invoice states:

"Starting in the spring of 2008, a capacity collection exercise will begin. The purpose of this exercise is to gather capacity information from cottagers, commercial operations, special consideration organizations and Manitoba Conservation. This information will be used to determine share allocation and calculate costs for municipal type property services for the October 2009 invoice."

Why were these letters not sent in the spring of 2008? The letters were sent out the second week of August with a deadline of Sept 19, 2008. I will suggest that this is an insufficient amount of time provided for cottagers to send in their site plans.

The WCA Inc. requests that cottagers are allotted more time to comply with the survey and without the veil of a threat. The WCA Inc. also requests that Manitoba Conservation take a professional approach in compiling this information.

The WCA Inc. wishes to continue to cooperate with Manitoba Conservation on issues and programs in the Whiteshell Park. However this has been very difficult when the last two letters that were written to the Government with our concerns have gone unanswered.

Sincerely,

Werner Toews
President
WCA Inc.

CC The Honourable
Stan Struthers
Minister of Conservation

ENVIRONMENT CONTEST

Each month, the WHITESHELL COTTAGERS ASSOCIATION INC. will be sponsoring a contest where members of the Whiteshell Cottagers Association (WCA) in good standing can submit their answers to our short quiz. At the end of each month, all correct answers from WCA Members names will be placed in a hat, and if your name is drawn, you will win the monthly prize. Each month, the winners name will be published in this site. Good luck!

HOW TO ENTER

JUST ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION CORRECTLY, AND SUBMIT YOUR ANSWER, OR send an E-MAIL TO wca@mts.net

Now for the month of August, if your name is drawn and you have the correct answers to the question AND YOU HAVE TOLD US WHO IT CAME FROM,
you will win:

a pair of

CYCLING AND SPORT HELMETS BY GUARDIAN
:Polycorbonate plastic exterior shell
:Expanded polystyrene foam liner
:Deep channel multi-vent for max cooling
:Dial - to - fit geared head retention system

Just fill in the form, answer the easy skill testing question and submit.

You will find the answers to the quiz in the WCA web site. YOU MUST FILL IN YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE # AND YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS ALONG WITH LAKE, BLOCK AND LOT #. THIS IS AN ENTRY FORM THAT SHOWS NO RETURN ADDDRESS OR WHO SENT IT. IF YOU DON'T TELL US, WE WILL NOT KNOW WHO SENT IT.

COMPOSTING LEAVES Leaves are often referred to as "Gardeners' Gold". Their bright green appearance in the Spring is a harbinger of the beginning of a new life cycle. Their presence in the summer provides much needed shelter from heat and rain for wildlife and humans alike, as well as being the vehicle through which trees produce their own food. Their dramatic beauty in the Fall can be unparalleled. In addition to all of this, properly used as mulch or compost they provide outstanding ______________________________to the soil. Leaves can be used more effectively as a component in a compost pile that contains a variety of organic matters. A good balanced compost pile contains materials rich in nitrogen and others rich in carbon. Leaves can provide the carbon component of your pile. A) ORGANIC MATTER AND NUTRIENTS B) MOLD AND BACTERIA C) NUTRIENTS

LAST MONTHS' WINNER WAS: Bev Smith. The Smiths have their cottage at Brereton Lakeand they win

A very large collapsible, convenient, leakproof, rolling, insulated cooler bag
plus a 3 piece cooler set.

Question and answer was:

Blastomycosis, or blasto for short is a fungal disease found in humans, dogs and other mammals. It is commoly misdiagnosed. It lives as a mold in warm temperature, acid, sandy soils near water. Once in the body it lives as yeast. It is contracted most often by inhaling the spores of the blastomyces dermatitidis fungis.