By John Francis
St Edmunds Property Owners held its Annual General Meeting on May 24 at Tobermory Community Centre. Attendance was disappointing, given the quality of the speakers and the relevance of their subject matter. So I’ll summarize it for you. Too bad you missed it.
National Park Superintendent Ethan Meleg talked about wildfire. The Jasper fire was a reminder that national parks are not exempt from wildfire; Meleg assured us that park staff are keenly aware of wildfire hazards.
Bruce Peninsula National Park is the largest contiguous forest in Southern Ontario. Most of the park is not at high risk of forest fire — cedar dominates many habitats and it does not burn easily. Further, it provides heavy shade which keeps the ground under it moist.
All forests have a natural fire cycle. Some forests — jackpine and red pine for example — need regular fires to stay healthy and national park staff will manage with this in mind. Cedar forests have a much longer fire cycle and the devastating fires of the early 20th century reset the clock around 1908.
Parks has a detailed fire management plan which is available to the public (contact them if you’re interested). The plan includes coordination with other agencies. Meleg pointed out that one of the most important fire management tools is the wood chipper — chips degrade much faster than logs and branches, reducing tinder.
An audience member asked how parks would deal with a lightning strike fire at a remote location. “We would find our way there,” Meleg replied, using trails, boats, or, in a pinch, a helicopter.
MNBP Fire Chief Jack Burt provided a municipal perspective on wildfire. He explained that Northern Bruce Peninsula Fire Department personnel have training in wildfire strategy; they coordinate with Parks Canada, Emergency Management Ontario (EMO), the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and Bruce County. There is an agreement with MNR which generates some funding. There are partnerships for equipment, such as EMO money for drones, including an infra-red (ie heat) sensing drone. Parks Canada also has some equipment and MNBP personnel have been trained to use it. South Bruce Peninsula Fire Department will also assist if needed.
But Chief Burt stressed the need for 72-hour emergency kits in every household so that people can shelter in place while waiting to be evacuated. The municipal radio station — 104.3 — will provide up-to-date information during an emergency. Chief Burt also stressed the importance of the FireSmart program to reduce fire hazards around houses and recommended that everybody watch the FireSmart 101 video online.
Audience members asked about fireworks permits (about 20 are issued each year) and how many charges had been laid under the fireworks bylaws (none; it’s almost impossible to get enforcement personnel there while the fireworks are still happening).
Mayor Milt McIver gave a presentation about the municipality and its 2025 budget. He began by pointing out that the Fire Department has come a long way in recent years “but all of it costs”.
He spoke of the “extreme challenges” that we — and other municipalities — have faced in recent years. MNBP’s 2025 budget is up 10.95% from 2024 which involves a mill-rate increase of 8.09%. When the county and provincial levies are factored in, the overall tax rate increase is 5.63%.
Council elected to contribute an extra $380,000 into reserves this year because otherwise, the capital projects we need to do in the near future would seriously deplete our reserves. The Mayor said that the Province has recognized that municipalities are not putting enough into reserves to handle asset management in the long term.
The Mayor offered insights into the municipality’s budget challenges. Input cost increases are only 2% this year but it’s the first reasonable increase in several years. Last year it was 4%; in 2023 it was 16%; in 2022 it was 25% and in 2021 it was 10%.
Roads are every municipality’s largest single expense and road maintenance costs have increased far faster than tax rates. That makes it very difficult to maintain a level of service at a reasonable tax levy.
But it’s not just roads. Five years ago, a new fire dept tanker was $500k; it’s $800k now. A pumper tanker was $800k; now it’s $1.2 million. “This is the world we live in”.
Mayor McIver showed a chart of the tax rates of Bruce County’s eight municipalities. Even after this year’s increase, MNBP has by far the lowest mill rate at 5.05; South Bruce Peninsula is next lowest at 6.13; the others are much higher; one of them has double our mill rate. (In a follow-up email, Mayor McIver pointed out that “if we were to collect at the same tax rate as South Bruce Peninsula it would add an extra $1.8 Million of Municipal Revenue. Imagine what we could accomplish in NBP.”)
An audience member criticized the proposed parking lot at Centennial Drive, on the outskirts of Tobermory. Mayor McIver pointed out that this would be funded out of paid parking or other tourism-related revenues.
An audience member asked what proportion of our taxes goes to Bruce County. “40%,” the Mayor replied. “Are we getting our money’s worth?” “No,” the Mayor replied (his actual reply was longer and more diplomatic).
An audience member wondered what percentage of fire and emergency calls are for the national parks. Chief Burt didn’t have an exact percentage but said that the more people you have, the more emergencies you’re going to have.“The problem with living in a place this beautiful is that everybody wants to come and see it.”
