Anyone heading Wasaga Beach shouldn’t be “pooping on the beach,” Premier Doug Ford says as the Ontario town fights back against what it says are misleading social media posts.
Those posts claim people are defecting in the sand at Wasaga Beach Provincial Park, and the town’s mayor says Wasaga Beach’s image is being “gravely harmed” by them.
“It’s a very popular beach,” Ford said at an unrelated press conference on Wednesday.
“They have no proof people are pooping in the park.”
The saga began last month after a TikTok user vent viral for claiming in a video defecation at Wasaga Beach Provincial Park has been an ongoing issue for years.
The user, Natty Lynn, said people were setting up small tents and digging holes to use as washrooms. In that video, she said she doesn’t let her kids dig in the sand on Beach 1.
Last Monday, Town of Wasaga Beach Mayor Brian Smith called on Ford to do something about it.
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Smith said at a special council meeting that the town’s reputation was “being gravely harmed” due to concerns from citizens and tourists regarding the quality of care at Wasaga Beach Provincial Park, which is provincially owned and managed.
He released a lengthy statement in July denouncing the posts as “complaints that lack evidence and promote misinformation.”
“The town has received no evidence — from residents, visitors or the Ontario government — to verify that any undesirable, unsanitary behaviour has occurred on the beach areas that make up Wasaga Beach Provincial Park,” Smith said.
“If any evidence comes to light, I assure you that we will be quick to act.”
A spokesperson for the environment ministry told Global News last month Wasaga Beach Provincial Park staff “have not observed this behaviour during their regular patrols of the beachfront or in response to any complaints.”
Another ministry spokesperson said that staff have “occasionally received complaints about defecation or urination on beaches since 2020, however no specific evidence of these allegations has been found.”
Ford said he has given $1 million in funding to Wasaga Beach to “build bathrooms and hire more staff.”
“Folks, don’t be pooping on the beach. Simple as that. We have no proof of it either,” Ford said.
— with files from Global News’ Aaron D’Andrea and Jacquelyn LeBel