Anne Marie De La Chapelle, a St. Catharines, Ont., beekeeper, lives less than four blocks from the pond where beavers once lived. She has watched from a distance as Metrolinx, Ontario’s regional transit agency, plowed through her lawn and filled the pond with rocks — all with her consent, she says. This spring, the agency and the city of St. Catharines staged a public engagement process for the village of Bayview Avenue, where she lives. Residents addressed a standing-room-only audience and voiced opposition to the beaver project.
A lot of people, including De La Chapelle, grew up in Bayview Avenue. The original fence that separated her property from the lake was only about 5 feet tall. The beavers used to help build the fence by chewing up rocks. They developed a special relationship with De La Chapelle’s boy, who she named “Mickey Mouse.”
“They were my grandson’s best friends,” De La Chapelle said.
Residents want Metrolinx to compensate residents and grant a moratorium on any more tree-clearance and fish-swimming-pool construction.
“These beavers are a part of our village,” St. Catharines mayor Paul Paolatto told the Times & Transcript newspaper. “If you want to change a lake, you better bring in the municipal government.”
Metrolinx responded with a statement that said officials would “continue to consult with our neighbours.”
Read the full story at the Citizen.
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