Provincial inspectors have visited some of the controversial off-grid communities being built in the northern Ontario wilderness.
Tanner Demers, one of the 160 members of the Swan Lake community near Kirkland Lake, says they are trying to distance themselves from the ‘medieval villages’ group that initially sold them the land. (Supplied/Tanner Demers)
Demers described the visits to Swan Lake, currently a collection of about a dozen cabins and trailers with only a handful of full-time residents, as “preliminary.”
He said testing has been done of the ground and surface waters near the community, plus discussion about long-term plans for wells and wastewater treatment.
Demers, who sits on the Swan Lake association as secretary/treasurer, said they also discussed the change in provincial law that took effect last month, enabling the building code to be enforced in areas outside of municipal boundaries, already home to hundreds of people across northern Ontario.
“Having some enforcement of the building code is only going to provide us with safer dwellings, safer structures for communities, not even just for our project, but for all unorganized areas,” he said.
The Ontario government did not make anyone available for an interview, but provided the following statement:
“The province remains concerned about off-grid communities in unincorporated areas and the potential for them to be unsafe for the inhabitants and place significant pressure on neighbouring municipalities as well as the environment,” the statement reads.
“To date, provincial inspectors have undertaken some initial environmental compliance site visits and have provided guidance to owners on provincial environmental requirements. Additional building code compliance site inspections are anticipated.”