July 16, 2026

CLIFF BAY OPPONENTS ‘WANT DEVELOPMENT’ — JUST NOT THIS ‘MAMMOTH PROPOSAL’ — 200 SAY AT ‘INFORMATION SHARING’ TUESDAY NIGHT

GRAVENHURST — On another oppressive day of heat — that a day earlier had a pall of yellow smog blanketing Muskoka — a “town hall” meeting left a further bitter taste in the mouths of some 200 opposing the Cliff Bay resort and housing proposal.

As protests go it wasn’t that unusual. A common democratic right and sight now like ones around hospitals. This one at the community centre organized by the Green Party of Ontario.

The “information sharing” was chance for residents to vent at a grand hotel proposal that remains yet a developer’s dream — and virtual concept at best.

One that has clearly grabbed the attention of the province, owner of the 70 acres on Lake Muskoka, who has some kind of deal to sell it to a mysterious proponent.

And has sparked the ire of many living nearby and even a little beyond — including those who live on Sparrow Lake, Gull and Silver Lakes and in Bracebridge, Muskoka Lakes Township. And even a transplanted Huntsville resident.

Cliff Bay resident Milada Redly says the developer “doesn’t know what the Muskoka experience is.” … It’s “tranquillity, calm, quiet and pure air.” She called the mamoth project” the “destruction of a wonderful, wonderful bay.” PHOTOS Mark Clairmont MuskokaTODAY.com

“We know that community engagement is the number one way to feel empowered and to bring change forward,” said GPO deputy leader Matt Richter.

Leader Mike Schreiner exclaimed he was “shocked” and in “disbelief.”

“I thought it was an Onion parody.”

“But this isn’t how I feel, but how we feel,” he said. “So I’m gonna put you on the spot: How are you feeling about this? Don’t be shy, shout it out. One word, feeling or emotion.”

“Horrified!” “Disgusted!” “Mad!” “Angry!” the instant reactions shot back at him.

“Betrayed” was one word Schreiner seized on.

After bating the crowd and saying he’s not one to be “hyperbolic,” Schreiner left the red meat to his long-time Parry Sound-Muskoka running mate, who agreed the latest potential sale of the former Muskoka Centre is “precedent-setting and is being watched across Muskoka and beyond. I know in Muskoka’s 27 other municipalities in Parry Sound-Muskoka.

“This could be a domino effect. If you, if I, if we don’t win this battle, it could open up floodgates for the rest of our riding and obviously, Ontario. There are public lands that are just waiting to be developed.

“If this goes through, it paves the way for chaos and development. And that’s not the future we want.”

Said Richer: “Here we are three decades” after it closed “and it still sits vacant. That’s no excuse to allow a developer, who thinks they’re gonna get an inside connection with our Ontario government to just steamroll and bypass the local decision-making process, after all these years.

“That’s the best we can do? No way.”

Richter said “the local Greens — and I think all of us — are not saying ‘no’ to development. But we are saying, with public land owned by Ontario we can do better. We can absolutely have land for public access and land for sensible development.

“But not development that requires villas on our lake, a restaurant on our lake and expanded beach. But my neighbour, in Port Sydney, can’t ask for a two-foot variance on his deck.

“I want to support real businesses. I want tourism to happen in Muskoka. But not this.”

Burkhard Havsburg, who move to Gravenhurst from Huntsville, was one of almost 200 concerned citizens who turned out Tuesday night at the Terry Fox Auditorium to learn more and express one of more than a dozen opinions from the floor.

What did the crowd say to that?

Richter opened the floor talking about how to “push back and have a sensible response. Development that respects decision-making and local democracy.”

That’s when a “whole, a host of issues” — along with some reasonable concerns — were voiced off the floor.

Such as emergency access along the lone Muskoka Road North access in Gravenhurst; boat traffic safety through the Narrows; and noise from more water users.

But the Titanic in the room everyone came to hear about was a Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO) the province could agree to and place on its property to expedite development. In doing so allowing the developer to avoid or fast-track some requirements such as stringent environmental regulations and protections. And thus avoid timely delays with appeals to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT).

Schreiner said Ford government has issued on average 25 MZOs a year.

An internet search shows the province issued 114 MZOs between 2019 and 2023, reports the CBC. Marking a 17-fold increase compared to the previous two decades combined by other governments. And according to an audit by the province’s Office of the Auditor General, the province received 169 MZO requests during this five-year window, ultimately granting 114 and refusing 35. The others did not proceed.

Schreiner said “it’s unbelievable the amount of extraordinary power an MZO can give the premier, the minister and cabinet. It essentially gives the province the power to overwrite all the rural decisions, their planning rules and byelaws. And in this particular case, I think we’re seeing how that can be misused and abused. We need to get rid of them.”

The Greens and Cliff Bay opponents claim an MZO in this case is a “condition of sale” for developer Kirill Soloviev, the allegedly “elusive” figure who has proposed the massive multi-million 1,300-unit “mixed use” hotel, tourism, commercial and condo-apartments.

The province and Soloviev have apparently reached memorandum of understanding to sell and buy the lands, pending final approval by Ontario’s cabinet. That “may or may not require local municipal and district consent,” said Schreiner, who also referred in his remarks to local calls (including ours) for turning the property into a provincial park.

The province has yet to comment officially about its intentions.

On Monday, before the meeting, Soloviev’s planner Bob List told MuskokaTODAY.com they haven’t submitted any final plan that would involve an MZO request.

See that story here:

‘NO MZO’ — BUT HEATED RIVALRY OVER MUSKOKA CENTRE PROPERTY DOMINNATES LAZY DAYS OF BEACH AND DOCK TALKS THIS SUMMER WITH CHANGES TO CLIFF BAY PLAN https://muskokatoday.com/2026/07/no-mzo-but-heated-rivalry-over-muskoka-centre-property-dominnates-lazy-days-of-beach-and-dock-talks-this-summer-with-changes-to-cliff-bay-plan/

Dr Tom Irvine expressed concern that the proponent, the town and province hasn’t properly consulted the residents more about what they want at the former Muskoka Centre, a treasured and prime piece of Gravenhurst and Muskoka Lakes real estate and historic heritage site.

One speaker called the developer a “huge corporation,” but was quickly challenged by another member of the public who countered the same claim by many who said they knew very little — or next to nothing — about Soloviev. Or who exactly was actually behind backing the mega project.
Several stood up to say they are not against this development — it’s the size, scope, density and impact on shoreline protection, quality of life and setbacks on the lake that matters most to them. As well as what it will do to wider, long-term community social needs.

One person from Bracebridge said she was worried about “selling off of the lake bed,” over which villa cottages are proposed.

However, there was no mention or representation from a town struggling, a community at risk and falling behind in growth, housing, employment, economy or reputation.

The mostly older audience — sprinkled with a handful of younger residents — and waterfront an/or seasonal owners, jumped on the scale of the “mammoth project.”

List said operators for the Cliff Bay resort have said they need to make a “difference” in look, style and feel to market it.

Muskoka has benefited from a lengthy history of “grand” hotels and resorts, including a few that remain.

Schreiner railed on like a New Democrat about the “extraordinary” MZOs, while receiving applause for saying they should be “infrequently used. …”

Instead of being “used to ram through a proposal like this that is clearly to benefit a rich and powerful corporation and for them to profit at our expense. It’s just wrong.”

Schreiner spoke about the “strong mayor powers, strong chair powers and the fact that the Ford government is going to appoint regional chairs. And they’ve been pretty explicit about it. Their job it so impose provincial priorities on communities. Not listen to their local communities that represent those voices and act in a way that is democratic and in the best interests of the local communities.”

The GPO leader says the government’s “rationale is that it will get housing built.

“Well, I’m sorry, we’ve had strong powers for quite a while in many places and Ontario is facing the worst housing crisis it’s ever faced.”

Richter added: “I don’t know the details of the local byelaws; council probably knows them way better than either one of us to be honest with you. But I can tell you that from everything I’ve read and the drawings I’ve seen, this violates local bylaws and current policies as well. So that’s why they’re having to use the MZO.

“And then if the MZO is revoked — my guess is they would not proceed. Because why else would they ask for an MZO as a condition of sale?

Jim Davis, a director of the Gull and Silver Lakes Residents Association and a past MLA director, called Cliff Bay a “real estate play disguising as a resort…. The vast majority of the units are going to be condos, owned and not available to the travelling public. So this is a real threat. Davis did get Schreiner to agree to help host an “advocacy day” at Queen’s Park to mount an in-person protest. Schreiner said he has brought the issue to the attention of other MPPs and leaders.

Milada Redly, who lives on Cliff Bay near Camp Shalom, said an assessment was done in 1999 (five years after Ontario closed the Muskoka Centre) about whether the area could accommodate a large development. “And the answer was absolutely not.”

She said the property is not on a bay of Lake Muskoka, but a lake unto itself and should be treated that way without the Narrows considered an in-take and out-take of Lake Muskoka water.

“This is really not a bay on a large lake. It is a small lake. … Therefore, how can they consider anything like that mammoth proposal?

“Mr. Soloviev wants to provide Muskoka an experience for other people. He has no clue what that is. The Muskoka experience is tranquillity, calm, quiet and pure air.

“If you listen to the Wenonah, with a big band on it, it takes maybe a half hour from the Narrows to the end. The noise is everywhere. With three large venues they propose, we would have that every single day, all night long. Noise and light pollution.

“That’s the destruction of a wonderful, wonderful bay.”

**There is wide interest in the Cliff Bay proposal, which is still a developers long-term dream and at best really a virtual concept.**

Christine Purdon, of Gravenhurst whose family owns nearby Greavette’s Island, took offence to the town council she said that supports Indigenous rights and recites a land acknowledgment at their meetings. Yet isn’t fighting for the land. I’m also concerned about there being a massive influx of people.”
Gary Stevenson, of Gravenhurst, compared the plan to the Muskoka Wharf and said promises made there about building height restrictions and lake setbacks, which weren’t met. “The developer was the only one that changed the game plan. He changed every single thing.”
Another person said their concerns are “broader about if we are selling lake space (water lots) and we are taking those away from public access.”
Someone suggested a boycott by local real estate agents urging them not to sell Cliff Bay condos.
Still another asked about the original 1897 deed for the first TB hospital property site and if it would revert to the heirs of the donor family should the province no longer have need or use for the multi-million-dollar prime piece of Muskoka real estate.

Ward 1 councillor Penny Varney, the lone council rep to attend (though all members received meeting invites through the GPO mailing list) said opponents have to “fight the good fight.”

Schreiner did say: “I can tell you as an MPP, when I travel around my riding and I see signs on people’s yards advocating for an issue they’re very powerful.”

But he warned protesters to away from taking their concerns directly to Ford’s Muskoka cottage, noting he, too, has had security threats.

He did urge writing letters to the Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister Rob Flack and of course his associate minister and local MPP Graydon Smith.

“It’s possible to win — but it takes work,” said Schreiner at the end of the that lasted a little more than an hour.

Which the Muskoka Bay Property Owners’ Association, with the MLA’s help, are already doing continue to do with a lot more wind at their backs thanks to more talking points and fodder their fight. Their website is SaveTheBay.ca.

They anticipate a long battle, which is far from over for those in attendance who seemed eager and anxious to fight the good fight.