A presentation on the history of Mississagi Provincial Park, covering the time from the Ice Age to the present formation of a unique governing body, was given at the monthly meeting of the Elliot Lake Historical Society on October 9 at Elliot Lake Secondary School.
The park is situated 22 km north of Elliot Lake on High 639. It includes over 80 campsites, seven backcountry sites, 75 km of hiking trails, five canoe routes, four beaches and two boat launches. It lies between the Boreal Forest region and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region.
The present governing body, the Mississagi Park Foundation, is unique because it is the first time a provincial park has been managed by a partnership with First Nations. Mississagi Provincial Park is now operated by The City of Elliot Lake, Mississagi First Nation and Serpent River First Nation.
Sarah Daigle, operational manager of the park, and Ed Pearce, project leader of the negotiating party mandated by the Elliot Lake Economic Development Advisory Committee to take over the park, used slides to show the history of the park, which included photos of rock formations, historic scenes of lumbering and early buildings, and the steps taken for the new partnership to be created. Jack Trudeau, a council member of the Serpent River First Nation, was on hand for questions.
Daigle, who said she has been with the park for 25 seasons, led the presentation with information on the Canadian Shield and geological formations from the time of the Ice Age, and how the park was an archaeological site in 1974; she showed photos of prehistoric tools found at Flack Lake.
Logging was going on in the area from 1908 to 1911, when white pine was harvested, roads and camps were constructed, and streams were prepared for the spring drive of logs with the construction of dams and chutes. The logs flowed down various streams and rivers, through small lakes, to Lake Huron.
From 1940 to 1950, the area was open to prospecting with claim staking allowed.
The park was established in July 1965 with 38 campsites, a man-made beach, and consisted of 3,160 hectares. But, in the late 60s the Department of Mines opened the park for the staking of mining claims.
From 1964 to 1965, park facilities were built, and in 1976 a log cabin was built by the Ministry of Natural Resources Junior Rangers. At that time, 39,270 hectares were added to the park.
In 1988, the park was expanded by 1,740 hectares to help establish hiking trails, ski trails and new campgrounds, and in 2006, another 3,574 hectares were added, to the present size of 8,823 hectares.
Ontario Parks took control of the park in 1999, and in 2005 added 90 campsites to the current 60 sites.
In 2012 the province began closing provincial parks due to low visitation and high operating costs. The City of Elliot Lake’s Council debated about taking over the park and gave the mandate to the Economic Development Standing Committee to negotiate with the province. The committee appointed Ed Pearce to lead the negotiations.
“We negotiated (the agreement) line by line,” said Pearce. He said they would meet once a week to review the proceedings and were told to keep going.”
In 2013, the City of Elliot Lake took over control of the park but it was a difficult transition, said Pearce. The province did an inventory of everything in the park, “down to the nails,” said Pearce, and expected the city to pay for everything. But they refused. The province removed equipment and historic photos from the site.
In 2018, the new partnership of three groups, the City of Elliot Lake, Mississagi First Nation and Serpent River First Nation, took over management of the park, “but just the public areas,” said Pearce. They were given a mandate to operate the park for five years, and after that time they would be considered to function for another five years.
“It is an equal partnership," said Pearce. “There must be unanimity in all decisions, a model for future development along the North Shore.”
Pearce said the city was concerned about the operating costs of the park, but the park’s management team started to reduce the operating deficit as well as celebrate the area’s history. He said Lumberjack Days played a big part in getting the park known as a tourist destination in Northern Ontario.
Daigle said in the future they would like to have the park open year-round. She listed possible activities, such as cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobile trails, winter fishing, a sugar shack and sugar bush operation, winter camping and an educational centre.
For more information about the park, call 705-865-2021 or go to its website.