Help save the Leslie M. Frost Natural Resources Centre!

Dear friends,

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has recently announced the closure of the Leslie M. Frost Natural Resources Centre. Most Ministries have been directed to make funding cuts in order to finance healthcare and education, the priorities the people of Ontario have set for this government.

No longer is it part of the mandate of the Ministry of Natural Resources to provide a centre with a goal to “foster an understanding of ecosystems and how they can be sustained for future generations.”

Established in 1974, The Frost Centre was the first Outdoor Education Centre in the province dedicated to environmental and resource management education. The now defunct Frost Centre website read,

"The Frost Centre assists the Ministry of Natural Resources in delivering its core business by providing training opportunities for staff and a wide range of programs for students, educators, program delivery partners, outdoor partner groups and the general public. Courses are delivered from topics such as Awareness and Appreciation of Ecosystems, Understanding Ecosystems, Sustaining Ecosystems and Responsible Human Action. School group programs run the gamut of forestry, water, wildlife and fisheries management and include a variety of teacher led programs like orienteering, survival games, tree identification, shoreline explorations and geomorphology to name a few. In addition to the public education mandate for youth and adult outdoor enthusiasts, the Frost Centre is the principal training facility for the Ministry of Natural Resources providing special and mandatory training to MNR and the Ontario Public Service (ie; OPP)."

I believe that the Frost Centre supports the provincial government's commitment to making education the priority. It offers numerous opportunities to students, such as the Grade 12 biology students from Earl Haig Secondary School in Toronto, and many members of the general public to learn first hand, the importance of sustaining and managing our valuable natural resources. With respect to healthcare, funding for these types of programs is an investment in our overall quality of life. If educating environmental sustainability is not a mandate of the Ministry of Natural Resources, then we must ask, under whose watch will this mandate now fall?

Education is key to achieving environmental sustainability and ensuring the wise use of our Ontario’s natural resources. The government should be developing and expanding programs that foster an appreciation for the natural world rather than cutting them. Programs such as those developed by the Frost Centre, perform an invaluable service by providing “hands-on” education and training in the conservation field.

If this is not a priority for the Ministry of Natural Resources, then it surely must fall under a coordinated effort by the Ministries of the Environment, Recreation and Tourism, Education and even Health. The Ontario Realty Corporation, which acts like the property's Real Estate Agent, should be offering other government ministries an opportunity to administer and finance the Frost Centre before offering it to other agencies or private companies. I am encouraging a cooperative effort between these ministries the Leslie Frost Centre remains in the public domain and will continue to educate people about the importance of conservation for many years to come.

What you can do!

Please call Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources, David Ramsay at (416) 314-2301. Ask him to keep the Leslie Frost Centre open by encouraging partnerships with other government ministries in sharing the cost of keeping this invaluable Outdoor Education Centre open! Please lend your voice to defending outdoor education.

Environmentally yours,

Josh Matlow
Trustee, St. Paul's
Toronto District School Board
(416) 397-3094
www.joshmatlow.ca

Please visit Environment Haliburton for local news on the Save the Leslie Frost Centre campaign.

Please visit the news section on this website for updates on the Save the Leslie Frost Centre campaign

Please click here to read an open letter to Premier McGuinty concerning the Leslie Frost Centre.