Over two hundred folks attended the Paddle and Parade Party on Saturday, September 16, 2023 on Highland Line near McDonalds Corners in Lanark County. The goal for this gathering was to draw attention to the two gravel pits being proposed by Cavanagh Construction Limited and the expansion of the existing gravel pit owned by Arnott Brothers Construction Ltd. All three gravel pits are applying for a licence to go below the water table.
The afternoon-long event was organized by the local group Friends of Lanark Highlands in combination with the Reform Gravel Mining Coalition as part of a tour to highlight the inadequacies of the existing extraction legislation in the province of Ontario.
The first part of the event began at noon at the water’s edge of Barbers Lake on the Anderson Heritage Farm. The Shabot Obaadjiwan and the Snimikobi First Nations offered a pipe ceremony and drumming. This was followed by a clockwise procession of over 40 canoes, paddle boards and kayaks on the lake.
As folks arrived back on land, a vehicle procession made its way slowly from the Anderson Farm along Anderson Lane to Highland Line and ultimately to the Wheelers Pancake House at 1001 Highland Line. Cavanagh intends to construct two excavation pits, one on each side of Anderson Lane, which is owned by the township.
The parade was led by a truck with a trailer carrying a seven-foot long, four-foot high reproduction of a Blandings Turtle, one of several species-at-risk turtles living on and near these proposed excavation sites. The turtle had been constructed with page-wire fencing, paper mache and fiberglass, as well as graffiti spray paints of various colours.
After folks had gathered outside the Pancake House, the local band, the Long Sault Trio, performed several pieces of folk music and this was followed by one or two speeches. Sarah Harmer made a special quest appearance, sang one song and shared her general concerns about aggregate extraction. She also told the audience about the challenges faced by the local community around a quarry near her hometown of Burlington, Ontario.
Local vendors were on site and food was available. An information table organized by Friends of Lanark Highlands sold T-shirts and passed out literature describing issues related to the gravel pit proposals along Highland Line.
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