Hundreds of Manitoba campers are receiving notice their upcoming campsite booking has been cancelled due to weather conditions.
On Tuesday the Manitoba government announced dozens of campgrounds have had to push back their opening date due to overland flooding, frozen pipes and inaccessible roads.
Jenna Slobodzian waited online for nearly three hours in April to book a spot at Tulabi Falls campground. Earlier this week she received notice that her site has been cancelled due to overland flooding. Tulabi campground won’t open now until at least June 3.
“I would hope to book something again but, I’ve looked at the Tulabi yurts and it doesn’t look promising for the rest of this year,” Slobadzian said.
“It’s just a big headache and I’ve never experienced anything like this in my lifetime before, and I’ve been camping since I was 16.”
She says she understands the weather can be unpredictable but wishes campers were given better compensation, other than just receiving their money back.
“Getting some priority maybe next year, not maybe for everything but you know, but for the people who got cancelled at a certain provincial park, they get priority for next year at that provincial park.”
Compensation is something camper Robert Griffin wasn’t offered.
“It seems like summers are short enough as it is, so this just makes it shorter,” he says.
He has a seasonal spot at White Lake campground, which won’t open until at least June 3 now.
“Of course, it’s always nice to get something back,” Griffin says. “By the time they get it back to you, it’ll be sometime this winter.”
In a statement to Global News, the province says they’ll be returning some money to seasonal campers.
“Once campers are allowed back into the campgrounds, prorated refunds for time missed will be issued to seasonal campers,” a Manitoba government spokesperson said.
The province was also asked if it’s considering a priority booking system but it did not answer the question in an emailed statement. Instead they say they understand the frustration but that their priority is the health and safety of Manitobans.