SUMMARY:  Premier MacLauchlan is ramming a bill through the legislature that will allow noisy, dangerous, polluting snowmobiles on PEI's unploughed scenic heritage roads and seasonal roads. There was no public consultation and, worse, the process has been dirty, underhanded and unfair. Please sign this petition telling Premier MacLauchlan to scrap Bill-52 and keep recreational snowmobiles off unploughed heritage and seasonal roads so that snowshoers and skiers can enjoy outdoor physical activity without risking their lives.

Snowmobilers already have exclusive use of the 435-kilometre Confederation Trail - snowshoers and cross-country skiers are banned. Snowmobilers have illegally used seasonal unploughed roads and heritage roads for years. Some citizens who want to snowshoe and cross-country ski on heritage roads in their own communities asked government to keep snowmobiles off heritage roads for safety and noise reasons. The response? An arrogant middle finger to citizen concerns. Premier MacLauchlan is ramming Bill-52 through the legislature so that he can make regulations giving snowmobiles legal access to all unploughed seasonal and heritage roads.

THE LONGER STORY:  The forested Millvale area is criss-crossed by a network of scenic heritage roads and seasonal roads. They're steep and narrow: winding up wooded hills, down beautiful valleys and across streams. In the summer they're illegally monopolized by ATVs and in the winter by snowmobiles. In a densely populated place like PEI, snowmobile noise at all hours of the day and night is a significant issue. Some residents approached government with concerns about illegal snowmobile access to these types of roads all across the province.

After months of stonewalling, the PEI Department of Transportation informed us that "consultation has occurred within senior government regarding your inquiry". Without any public consultation, their solution is to ram through new regulations that will effectively hand the keys to snowmobilers to all unploughed public roads in the province. Skiers and snowshoers, they say, can use the roads too.

Would you take your kids out for an afternoon of snowshoeing and nature enjoyment on a one-lane, twisty, hilly heritage road used by speeding, noisy, polluting snowmobiles? How about a moonlight cross-country ski outing, with a 250 kg snowmobile, capable of speeds in excess of 100 km/h, barrelling towards you, even without the alcohol factor involved?

Premier MacLauchlan should vigorously promote outdoor physical activity, like snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, in safe places like the unploughed public roads within our communities. Allowing noisy polluting snowmobilers to monopolize these roads, when they already have exclusive use of the Confederation Trail, is unfair and unsafe.

Tell Premier MacLauchlan to scrap Bill-52 and keep recreational snowmobiles off unploughed heritage and seasonal roads.

Sharon Labchuk

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