The mystery of Spider Lake appears to exemplify several disturbing elements.
If you live in Nanaimo, you enjoy a much better method of access to nearby lakes, lakes as small as Diver and Green lakes at 38 and 33 acres where the use of electric motors is freely permitted, while Spider Lake at 110 acres has extremely poor and unsafe access and has an illogical prohibition of non-electric motor use.
Are the residents of the nearby communities of Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Bowser, etc. considered second-class citizens and therefore not entitled to the same rights as those enjoyed by the users of Nanaimo lakes?
Another disturbing factor is that of a few people living in and around Spider Lake displaying a bad case of Nimby-ism, seemingly saying: “this is our lake and no one else is welcome.” This Nimby-ism appears to have an unbalanced weight of influence that is readily accepted by the chair of the Regional District of Nanaimo and other involved political entities.
I live above beautiful Eaglecrest beach and I invite everyone to come down and enjoy “your” beach, as the lake and the beach surely belong to all of us.
Still another element in this mystery is the misleading misinformation put forth by representatives of Fish and Wildlife regarding accurate fishing information and the poor reasons surrounding the supposed adverse use of electric motors.
B.C. Parks has equally shown a great reluctance to do the right thing regarding lake access. The Ministry of Transportation has assessed the location of the current location to be unsafe. Not once did they willingly submit plans to improve the existing boat ramp; that task was left up to us.
This blatant reluctance exemplifies their short-sightedness regarding the needs of an aging population and the significant population of all ages with disabilities in accessing and safely using a public resource.
We are encouraged to pursue healthy and joyful activities, one which the provincial government endorses but has so far done little to make it so.
I encourage not only our MLA Michelle Stilwell, but all other elected officials to support and recognize the rights of an aging population and those with various physical challenges to safely access and use electric motors on Spider Lake.
Patrick TibandoQualicum Beach