AS OF 6 P.M. MONDAY FEBRUARY 26 2024 THE SHED USED AS A NESTING SITE BY SEVERAL PAIRS OF BARN SWALLOWS HAD NOT BEEN TORN DOWN HOWEVER DEMOLITION EQUIPMENT REMAINED ON SITE AT POINT TRAVERSE.
Bay of Quinte MP Ryan Williams is among those expressing disappointment that several shacks at a former Prince Edward County Fishing Village have been torn down.
Williams says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault continues to ignore the concerns of residents of Prince Edward County.
The old shacks at Point Traverse were part of what was a commercial fishing village dating back to the 1800s.
But one of those sheds has been an annual nesting site for Barn Swallow pairs, a species at risk with “special concern.”
The federal Canadian Wildlife Service had machinery on site Monday morning ready to knock the shacks down.
The McCormack family which runs a commercial fishing business had also been fighting to save their summer home at Point Traverse after their lease was terminated last year.
Last fall Williams presented a petition to the House of Commons calling for Environment and Climate Change Canada to reverse its decision on terminating the McCormack’s lease.
Read Williams full statement below:
Bay of Quinte MP Ryan Williams says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault continues to ignore the concerns of residents of Prince Edward County. MP Williams says “First the Environment Minister, in the name of climate change, decided to evict the fishers of the Commercial Fishing Village Heritage Area, who have been doing sustainable fishing in the Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area for almost 200 years. Now in the name of climate, the Minister will destroy the last nesting habitat of barn swallows in the Prince Edward Point National Wildlife area.”
MP Williams has been presenting petitions and lobbying Minister Guilbeault about the commercial fishing leases since 2023. Today his office in Bay of Quinte has heard from many local residents who are upset about this week’s demolition of the shed at Prince Edward Point Wildlife Area that is used by nesting barn swallows. One resident wanted to voice their objection to this loss of an important bird habitat saying “Barn swallows have been using the shed and other buildings for generations of breeding and they are listed as a species at risk with ‘special concern’. Demolishing the shed at Point Traverse in particular would mean the loss of habitat for up to 70 barn swallows just in the Spring 2024 breeding season.”
MP Williams will continue to press Environment Minister Guilbeault for an immediate halt of this destruction and lease termination.
