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FOCA Elert - November 2018
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FOCA Fall Seminar 2018 - event recap
Cottage Country: What's Coming & How to Prepare for it
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FOCA Board President Marlin Horst led the day's events |
We had a full house for our latest FOCA member event on Saturday, October 27th in Toronto. The theme was emergency preparedness and extreme weather in cottage country. Sessions included:
- the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction on property damages noted across the Canadian landscape in recent years
- a discussion session among members, leading to the creation of a tip sheet with ideas for personal & lake association preparedness
- a presentation about the ways a natural shoreline can enhance your property's resilience in the face of these climate changes
- water sampling under the Lake Partner Program
- FOCA's project with partners to investigate septic maintenance programs across the province
- an update on FOCA's 2018 work, including an overview of benchmarked survey results about trends in our member associations, as part of FOCA's strategic planning process.
Note: you will need your Member Web Login to access this info;
Special thanks to our Event Sponsor:
Travelers Canada
, underwriters of the
CottageFirst
group insurance program, available exclusively to FOCA members. Thanks also to our Lunch Sponsor: Yamaha Motor Canada, and our Refreshment Sponsor: Cottage Life.
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FOCA's Gold-level Sponsors
Sponsors support our work. Please, support them!
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Policy Updates & Government Affairs
Your Call-to-Action: write to the Minister!
At the 2018 FOCA Fall Seminar, Board President Marlin Horst issued a call-to-action for all FOCA members, to write to the Hon. Rod Phillips, Ontario Minister of the Environment, Conservation & Parks, in support of the ongoing efforts of the Lake Partner Program. Get details, and a link to draft wording for your own letter, here:
https://foca.on.ca/lake-partner-program-overview/
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Environmental Protection Report
November 13, 2018 - Dr. Dianne Saxe, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, released the 2018
Environmental Protection Report, titled
Back to Basics, in a series of 4 sub-reports on clean water, respecting the public's voice on the environment, wildlife & wilderness, and Southern Ontario wetlands & forests.
Find the reports here:
The ECO's press release, accompanying the reports, spoke keenly to us:
"It is unbelievable that in 2018, the government allows this much filth into our lakes and rivers," said Saxe.
"These are the places Ontarians spend time with their families, where they swim and fish. These shorelines and waters are home to Ontario's rich biodiversity, and to us."
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Ontario Municipal Vote - Recap
Vote for your Future
FOCA congratulates everyone who participated in municipal elections this October by voting, spreading the word, or even by running for office. We have already been made aware of some FOCA members who were successful in their bids to join their rural councils; please
let us know
about any in your
area!
Looking for municipal results? Consult the link to AMO election results, on FOCA's webpage:
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Take the FOCA Vote Survey
Did you vote in the Ontario Municipal elections?
Or not? Either way, we'd like your feedback in our post-election survey, the final effort of FOCA's "
Vote for your Future campaign" this year.
Click to link to the 2-minute survey:
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Calls for Nominations
FOCA Achievement Award
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last year's Award presentation to the Skootamatta District Ratepayers Association
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Apply
by November 30th, 2018 on behalf of your great Association for the annual
FOCA Achievement Award, a celebration of our members' successes. Activities or achievements should be current, although they can be long-standing programs, and should relate to at least one of the following categories:
- environmental stewardship
- land use planning initiatives
- research and/or education
- political involvement
- other innovations or successes in line with FOCA's mission, "To protect thriving and sustainable waterfronts across Ontario."
More information and the nomination form is here:
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Rural Entrepreneurship
The Rural Ontario Institute (ROI) wants to hear your stories of successful rural entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship programs. The intent is to profile a range of approaches to programming that can respond to the needs of current or aspiring rural entrepreneurs. Share your suggestions at:
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FOCA's Silver-level Sponsors
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Lake Environments
Source Water Protection Areas
At the 2018 FOCA Fall Seminar, speaker Anne Egan of the Ontario Onsite Wastewater Association mentioned that property owners can check whether they are in a
source water protection area.
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Cataraqui Region Lake Reports
The Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority (CRCA) has posted a series of useful reports on area lake assessments.
Visit CRCA's website to explore listings by watershed, and download your lake's individual report. Many FOCA member lakes are included! (What a handy reference for starting your own lake plan...)
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Invasive Species Corner
The Big, Bad, and Ugly Asian Carp Exhibit at the Toronto Zoo
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https://asiancarp.ca/Toronto-Zoo-Exhibit |
Want to learn more about Asian carps this off season? Check out the The Big, Bad, and Ugly Asian Carp Exhibit at the Toronto Zoo. Preventing Asian carps from entering the great lakes is the best way to prevent harm to Ontario's native fish populations.
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FOCA's Bronze-level Sponsors
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Recent Events
Lake Links Workshop
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Lake Links 2018, by Watersheds Canada
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Saturday, October 20, 2018 - Perth.
FOCA was pleased to once again be a Supporting Partner for this annual event.
The 17th
Lake Links Workshop
was titled, "
Our Lake, My Responsibility - Our Reward
." The day-long workshop brought together individuals and scientists to discuss freshwater issues.
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Latornell Conservation Symposium
November 13-15, 2018 - Alliston, Ontario. FOCA's Membership and Programs Coordinator, Deanna Panitz, presented at the first day of this annual science symposium, as part of a session about education, monitoring and management of priority invasives at the community level across Ontario. See:
http://www.latornell.ca/program/2018-program/
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Waterfront Living
The off-season is prime-time to plan next Spring's priorities for your waterfront property. If you are in the market for a septic system installation or maintenance professional, you could start your search here, with the Ontario Onsite Wastewater Association's "Find an expert" online interactive map tool:
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Safety & Preparedness
Coroner's Inquest Completed
November 1, 2018 - A coroner's inquest into the June 2013 fatal boating accident and 911 response at Lake Wanapitei has finally been completed. The jury made 27 recommendations, including that the province should create an independent body to provide oversight to all 911 operations to investigate, respond to, and resolve complaints. Read more, from CBC News.
> see background, including FOCA's 2014 letter calling for an inquest, here:
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Carbon Monoxide Safety
As the cold weather settles in, and we come to rely upon gas or oil furnaces, or wood-burning appliances, FOCA reminds everyone to become aware of carbon monoxide and all its many sources.
There is no off-season for your family's safety. Get info here:
https://foca.on.ca/beat-the-silent-killer-co-safety/
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Woodstove Safety Tips
Looking for an article for your Association's winter newsletter? Thanks to our friends at Cade Associates Insurance Brokers, your work is already done!
Download this article on
Woodstove Safety
(PDF, 1 page), i
ncluding usage notes and important "Do's" and "Don'ts" - or contact FOCA for a text version.
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Association Peer Sharing
Local Planning Appeal Tribunal
As
FOCA reported in Spring 2018, the Ontario Municipal Board has been replaced with the
Local Planning Appeal Tribunal
(LPAT) appeal process for decisions related to the Planning Act.
Has your association had first-hand experience yet, with the new LPAT process? F
OCA wants to hear about it.
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Get Social with FOCA
Have you connected with us on Facebook, yet?
Did you see and share our October 19th Facebook re-post of a Center for Limnology message, about the lakes we love, and finding local lake associations? Follow FOCA, here: https://www.facebook.com/foca.on.ca
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FOCA is the Federation of Ontario Cottagers' Associations,
the voice of the waterfront for over 50 years
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