By John Francis
As the Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula’s Council slides towards its lame duck period prior to this fall’s election, it is a good time to think about what has been accomplished (and what has not). I looked back five, ten, fifteen and twenty years to offer some context.
In 2006, two stories got a lot of space in this newspaper: the new National Park Visitor Centre and the decision to pave the East Road.
The visitor centre made our collection of land parcels feel like a real National Park. The building felt huge at the time, but that was before Facebook, Instagram and TikTok turned the park into a must-see destination.
The East Road didn’t get a lot of traffic back then. Heck it doesn’t get that much traffic even now. But the province and the feds were willing to pony up two thirds of the cost to pave it, because it was an important alternative evacuation route if Highway 6 ever got blocked. Staff recommended (and Council agreed) that a two-thirds cost subsidy was enough to push this project to the front of the line. The Public Works Manager told me that “water distribution systems” were a higher priority but that no funding was available for that project. (Twenty years later, Tobermory is still waiting for a water system.)
Also an issue in 2006 (and 2001 and 1996 and…) was the need for a stoplight at the intersection of Head Street and Highway 6 in Tobermory. I believe that when the new Council took office in late 2006, one of their first actions was to pass a resolution asking the Ministry of Transportation to install that light.
Fifteen years ago, in 2011, there was a lot going on. It was the second year for the Cardboard Boat Races at Chi-Cheemaun Weekend. Rob Hellyer brought the National Lacrosse League Champion’s Cup to the Lion’s Head Canada Day Parade. There were serious overcrowding problems at Indian Head Cove/The Grotto in Bruce Peninsula National Park.
The peninsula’s increasing status as a destination was generating steadily heavier traffic on Highway 6. There were a lot of complaints about the lack of a stoplight at the intersection of Highway 6 and Head Street in Tobermory.
Ten years ago, in 2016, one of the major issues was a proposal to improve Isthmus Bay Road.
The cardboard boat Cheeky-Men raced for the first time. It has proved remarkably resilient, participating annually ever since, winning the children’s races several times with several different crews, including four years running.
But tourism/overtourism was the main story in 2016. TripAdvisor rated Tobermory as the 4th most popular destination in Canada, behind Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. The crowding on Canada Day Weekend was bonkers. By late afternoon on Saturday, the National Park had turned away 1,836 cars on Cyprus Lake Road. That’s about four per minute. Imagine what it must have been like that day — for park staff and for disappointed would-be visitors.
Traffic coming into Tobermory that year occasionally backed up to Cape Hurd Road. Cars were parking on both sides of Dorcas Bay Road, Little Cove Road and Moore Street in Lion’s Head; it got so bad that ambulances or firetrucks wouldn’t have been able to get through. And it wasn’t just the parking. The crowding at Little Cove, Indian Head Cove/The Grotto and Singing Sands spoiled the experience for many visitors.
Spoiler Alert — it actually got worse the following year, when the Canada 150 celebrations included free admission to the National Parks.
One of my Opinion Page pieces in 2016 talked about the long-anticipated stoplight at the intersection of Highway 6 and Head Street in Tobermory.
Five years ago — 2021 — was the second summer of the pandemic.
MNBP decided to levy a 4% Municipal Accommodation Tax on Short-term Accommodations (MAT on STAs).
Private parking lots in Tobermory proposed by the Bruce Anchor and Blue Heron companies were the subject of much controversy. Had Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) been adequately consulted before the permits were issued? After a great deal of argument, the permits were withdrawn.
Paid parking in Lion’s Head caused a lot of problems in 2021 as summer visitors parked where they had always parked and came back to find a $60 ticket under their windshield wiper.
A consortium of stakeholders was awarded a $124,000 Trillium Grant to turn (washed out) Cabot Head Road into a hiking and cycling trail. (Spoiler Alert: it got bogged down in controversy and the issue is nowhere near resolved, five years later).
In an Opinion Page piece that summer, I noted that I had listened to three different Councils talking about how badly a stoplight was needed at the intersection of Highway 6 and Head Street in Tobermory.
A year and a half later, I listened to a fourth Council (the current one) agreeing that a stoplight was badly needed at the corner of Highway 6 and Head Street in Tobermory.
I’m sure that later this year, our next Council will pass a resolution that a stoplight is needed at Highway 6 and Head Street. Will it do any good?
