The mayor of Wasaga Beach has called the claim that some people are using beaches to defecate “misinformation,” and said that there is “no evidence” to support such claims.
He said that the municipality has received “no evidence – from residents, visitors or the Ontario government – to verify that any undesirable, unsanitary behaviour has occurred on the beach areas that make up Wasaga Beach Provincial Park.”
“If any evidence comes to light,” Brian Smith, mayor of the town, stresses, “I assure you that we will be quick to act.”
Smith made the comments in a statement released on Monday.
He notes that beaches are “clean and open” and “full of kids and families having fun.”
“Both the Town of Wasaga Beach and Ontario Parks operate public washrooms along the beach. This includes 11 comfort stations within Beach Areas 1-6 and 4 Mini Comfort Stations in Allenwood and New Wasaga that provide washroom facilities to visitors. They are located strategically in areas of high use and are very visible to the public from the beachfront,” the statement says.
The statement also lays out how Wasaga Beach took action to prohibit the use of “four-sided, enclosed tents on municipal property, to ensure as many people as possible have an unobstructed view of our famous shoreline and sunsets during their stay.” This comment likely due to claims from a social media user who said that people were setting up tents and digging holes to use as washrooms.
The poster, who goes by Natty Smith on social media, posted on July 9 that the issue had been ongoing for years.
“The mayor can’t deny all of us having experiences,” she said in an email to Global News.
“If you go through my social media comments, you will see people speaking about this happening at almost every beach across Ontario, across Canada. This is not a new issue.”
