Saugeen Shores Councillors are frustrated over seemingly fruitless repeated attempts to get assistance from the provincial government to deal with the eroding, historic Pioneer Cemetery in Southampton.
“I’m really disappointed,” Councillor Bud Halpin said Monday night after the Town received the latest response from the provincial government on their request.
The cemetery is located at the top of the slope along the Saugeen River in the northeast part of Southampton. Erosion will soon cause graves that date back to the 1860s to fall into the river, and the Town wants to move the graves back away from the bank, but that could cost around $800,000.
One of the issues with the situation, is the matter doesn’t fit snugly into the purview of any specific ministry.
On Monday, council discussed a letter it received from the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, (the most recent ministry they made a delegation to at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference).
The letter directed them to the Bereavement Authority of Ontario, which they say is responsible for the administration of regulations related to cemeteries. The letter did not provide a person to contact, but instead provided a general email address and 1-800 number for the Town’s use.
Citizenship and Multiculturalism says in the letter, it doesn’t have any applicable funding streams to help with the issue. They add, “As committed, MCM (Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism) will continue to liaise with ministry partners across government to identify any opportunities that may arise to support this project.”
Councillor Bud Halpin said to council, “I’m really disappointed by this letter. The Town of Saugeen Shores has made three delegations on this. I was present for the last two. In (2023), Vice Deputy Mayor Mike Myatt made a delegation, I was present at that and we were told to come back with a long-term plan and a number, a figure that we needed and we did that. We had a plan, we invested in the first steps of a multi-year plan. We had answers for all his questions and the minister on the delegation in 2024, the minister seemed positive and interested even mentioning possible sources of funding. So, just very disappointed with this letter and I’m just posing to council, what are our next steps for this? Another delegation, do we contact our MPP?”
Halpin noted, “For historical context, this all started because a guy clear-cut the bank so that from his grave he would have an undisturbed view of the Saugeen River. That’s where this all kind of started.”
Mayor Luke Charbonneau notes the project is included in the 2025 budget. “We’re funding it, so we’re getting to the point where we are going to do the project, so that’s in my view where we’re at,” but he added, there may still be advocacy work that can be done.
CAO Kara Van Myall noted, “I feel the same amount of frustration, because we participated in all of those meeting that you mentioned. It does remain on our priority list for advocacy. I can’t commit to where we’ll get with it, but we’ll continue to raise it.”
Councillor Rachel Stack said, “I think when we discussed this in 2023, I’d asked about whether we would bring (MPP) Lisa Thompson to this site and show her the current conditions.”
CAO Van Myall noted the that particular request was noted in the media. Van Myall says it made it to Lisa Thompson that way but that she has not accepted the invitation.
Councillor Stack said, “I think if we read the news today, the Premiere is likely to call an election, so this may be the opportune moment to revisit that and remind Lisa (MPP Thompson) as well as the other members of provincial parliament that they were elected in many rural ridings including our own and that they have an obligation to listen to our requests.
Stack continued, “I know we tend to take a path of more conciliatory requests but I think in some instances they’ve demonstrated that they are not listening and that response and that letter to me is a good example of that.”
Stack added, “I think my frustration is growing because Minister Thompson has been here on several occasions when there’s a celebration and there’s an opportunity to be recognized, and recognize a community member which is great, but we have real issues. We have physician shortages, we have the cemetery issue,”
She added, “I’m not sure if a coffin falling into the river will be the moment in time in which they recognize that we need some assistance here, but I think we’re at a point where particularly in this year, a bit more direct feedback to them, a bit more public feedback is probably worthwhile.”
Council directed staff to prepare a letter from the mayor and council to MPP Thompson and the minister of of citizenship and multiculturalism.
Mayor Luke Charbonneau said, “I think we could certainly proffer that invitation again because it is a pressing issue and the Town of Saugeen Shores’ position is clearly that although we have some financial obligation in this situation that it should be shared with the Province.”
