The following letter was submitted by Cathy Malcolmson who was kind enough to share her support for our cause and offer some advice from the “Save the Bala Falls” campaign.
It is so impressive that your community has taken the stand to oppose the proposed quarry at Skeleton Lake. I believe we all have a responsibility to protect our Muskoka environment and ensure development doesn’t occur in locations that will negatively impact our ecosystem.
Over the past 11 years I have been involved supporting Save The Bala Falls in trying to stop the development of the Hydro Generating plant at the Bala Falls. Our community rallied together to stop this plant and it was very disheartening to see construction trucks roll into Bala in August. We fought hard, and continue to do so, but I wonder if we would have had a different outcome if the urgency we felt in 2016 had of been the same in 2006. Many people felt the plant would never be built as common sense would prevail. That doesn’t seem to have been the case. Because of being such a small community, we needed every voice to be heard and we needed everyone to be loud.
Every signature, letter, telephone call and dollar helps. We wanted everyone in the community to take a vested interest, and take action to stop the generating plant. That truly does take all residents – permanent or seasonal, and every friend you can acquire from outside the community.
Our community activities were developed over time. If all of these had been implemented from the start, it may have caused a better outcome. Call on the community to share their expertise – engineering, environmental expertise, legal, public relations, government contacts, public speaking, and fund raising. Send letters, sign petitions and make phone calls. Consider hosting fund raising events, running public awareness booths and selling merchandise such as T-shirts. Car stickers and lawn signs at home will help to bring awareness outside the community.
I hope your community is successful in stopping this quarry. All the best!
Cathy Malcolmson
BEFORE
AFTER
