12 www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Spring 2022 PRESIDENT’S REPORT By Rolfe Jones, GBA President This time last year, outgoing GBA president John Carson commented on how we never thought a global pandemic would form part of our GBA agenda. Well, a year later it remains an ongoing issue. Hopefully all of us will soon be able to find our way through this recent round of COVID relatively unscathed. COVID played a significant role in how we conducted GBA business last year, and like many businesses we pivoted towards the world of Zoom where we regularly met, addressed our members’ concerns, discussed important GBA matters, and got things done on behalf of our members. Here are just a few matters your Board worked on last year, some of which remain active. COVID and Advocating for Our Members One of last year’s highlights was advocating on behalf of the 26 per cent of our members who live outside of Ontario. The majority of those 26 per cent live in the United States while a smattering live internationally, or in other provinces. All those members, after a year away from their respective cottages, wanted to find a way back to their spiritual homes – for many good reasons – some to visit for the last time. We worked both on our own and also joined forces with the Federation of Ontario Cottagers Association (FOCA) and its 250,000 members to advocate to the federal and provincial government decision-makers. Whether or not our letters specifically helped turn the tide we will never know, but we believe our voice was heard. Starting August 9, we welcomed our missing friends, family, and loved ones back to the Bay. Safe Quiet Lakes Safe Quiet Lakes (SQL), formed in 2011 by representatives of lake associations in central Ontario, works to promote the safety and tranquility of our lakes. Last year our Boating, Safety and Emergencies Committee chair, Andrew Hurlbut, asked GBA and its members to participate in the SQL Your Lakes, Your Views survey. The survey looked at what people value from their cottage experience, how they use the water, and what their boating activity concerns are. These insights help us to understand the priorities of our members as well as providing information for GBA advocacy and action. There were 1,110 responses from the Georgian Bay region, of which 975 were GBA members. Insights from the survey included concerns about the increasing boat traffic, boat noise, and impact of boat wakes today compared with five years ago. For more information on the results, please visit: https://bit.ly/3FQsbL1 Looking Back and Moving Forward Photo: Georgian Bay Biosphere
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