MVA backpaddles on closure of three canoe launches
The Meewasin Valley Authority is reversing its decision, one of many cuts announced last month in response to a $443,000 budget shortfall, to close three canoe launches on the South Saskatchewan River south of Saskatoon.
The about-face comes one week after the cash-strapped organization fired CEO Lloyd Isaak over disagreements with its board of directors, but its interim chief executive — who was appointed Thursday — insists the timing is a coincidence.
“If Lloyd was here, the same thing would be happening — they would be open,” said Doug Porteous, a former elementary school principal who has served as the MVA’s community development manager since joining the organization in 1999.
The decision to keep the Fred Heal, Poplar Bluffs and Paradise Beach sites open was made after a “groundswell” of public support, and is not expected to be offset by cuts in other areas, Porteous said Friday in an interview.
Isaak could not be reached for comment Friday.
The MVA announced deep cuts to staff, services and sites — including the popular canoe launches — in early April. Isaak said at the time that the MVA was facing the most difficult financial situation in its 38-year history.
Closing the sites would have cost nearly as much as keeping them open — barricades alone would have run to $10,000 — and the MVA has received multiple offers from people and companies willing to volunteer their time to help, he said.
Escape Sports co-owner Marcus Storey, who runs weekly paddleboard tours from Poplar Bluffs and criticized the MVA’s decision to limit access to the river by closing the sites, said Friday he was delighted by the reversal.
“A lot of us were kind of speculating that this was a way to engage the public again, which I totally don’t have a problem with,” he said. “Sometimes, you need to kick-start people caring again.”
The MVA is responsible for conservation, education and development along the South Saskatchewan.
It is funded by the City of Saskatoon, the University of Saskatchewan and the provincial government. It also receives grants and donations.
Its financial woes stem from the 2017-18 austerity budget, which is expected to reduce the provincial government’s contribution by $409,000, to $500,000, and the university’s by $34,074, to $647,000.
Isaak said at the time that the cuts were expected to reduce the organization’s core funding to around $2.2 million this year. Porteous said the MVA has already received around $50,000 in indirect support, and expects donations to increase.
Storey, meanwhile, said while his business and others who use the canoe launches would likely be open to paying for the privilege “if that’s what it comes down to,” it should be up to government to fund the sites.
“It’s hard enough to get people to go out and enjoy nature sometimes. (But) if you’re starting to charge for a lot of this stuff? It’s exactly what government is for, stuff like that.”