Girl Guide leaders launch legal battle to stop sale of Springwater camp
Girl Guide leaders in Barrie and Innisfil are convinced the guiding experience won’t be as fulfilling without Camp Tewateno in the mix.
So they’re going to court in a bid to block Girl Guides of Canada from selling off the wooded 100-acre, Springwater Township site.
Two Innisfil members of the Tewateno camp committee — Helen Gilbert and Joyce Goodenough — are seeking intervener status. A hearing is set for Oct. 9 in Toronto, where the court will decide if the volunteers will get their say.
“We could not in good faith sit back and let Girl Guides do this,” Goodenough said. “After all these years, to just let it go doesn’t seem right.”
Susan Birnie, provincial commissioner, said the Girl Guides is selling off 17 of its Ontario properties, including Camp Tewateno, to pour money back into outdoor programming.
Birnie said many of the camps are underutilized and it makes more financial sense to use funds toward outdoor experiences provided by camps owned by other organizations.
She estimates selling the properties will bring in more than $16 million, which will allow the Girl Guides to focus on programs instead of property management.
“We know a lot of people have close attachments to these camp properties, but we have to be good financial stewards at the same time,” Birnie said. “We aren’t really good at property management.”
Girl Guides can partner with other organizations, such as the YMCA and Outward Bound, to give guides outdoor experiences, Birnie said.
Meanwhile, a group of volunteers, including Goodenough and her husband, Gary, have been maintaining Camp Tewateno for the past three years.
“The camp was not being taken care of,” she said. “Our committee has put a lot of work into this.”
They argue the camp isn’t the Girl Guides to sell because it was purchased through local donations and fundraisers in 1994.
The camp committee won a similar legal argument last year when Girl Guides attempted to retain local fundraising money even though a new lodge the money was meant for was never built.
After five-year court battle, a Barrie judge ruled anyone who donated to build the lodge was entitled to get their money back.
Goodenough said a former Girl Guide leader, who is a lawyer, has agreed to take on the intervener case pro bono. The volunteer legal work will save the group about $10,000.
The group has formed the Camp Tewateno Optimist Club so the not-for-profit club can raise money to aid in its fight to keep the camp.
“We’re hoping to have the deeds to the property transferred back to us so we can continue to keep the camp running for local youth,” Goodenough said.
Camp Tewateno has several sites, including one with Tee-Pees and another with covered wagons that portray the history of Ontario.
Another Girl Guides group in Amherstburg near Windsor is also seeking intervener status to save Camp Bryerswood from being sold off.
A change.org petition called Save Ontario’s Girl Guide Camps has about 250,000 signatures.