Chris Clegg
South Peace News

Winagami Lake cottage owners are in shock and disbelief after discovering at least seven cottages were broken into and robbed over a two-day period from Dec. 18-19.

“All cottages were entered either by smashing windows or entrance doors to gain entry,” says Darcy Beach, vice-president, Winagami Lake Cottage Owners Association.

Stolen items included TVs and other electronic items, women’s and men’s clothing, food and liquor.

The culprits showed no fear. At least two of the cottage owners were on location when the second round of break-ins were occurring and narrowly missed intercepting their escape before police arrived, says Beach.

“One of the cottage owners had just had their cabin broke into that same night,” says Beach.

“RCMP from McLennan responded to the scene but did not catch the suspects, but have launched an investigation.”

Photos of the male and female thieves and one of their vehicles was recorded from one of the cottages broken into. Photos were posted on Facebook by one of the cottage owners.

The incident has left some cottage owners in total despair, says Beach.

“For some of the cottage owners who were robbed, they have advised this may be the final blow for them.

“The cost of having a seasonal cabin is becoming too much,” he adds. “Over the past several years, Alberta Parks has tripled the lease costs for cottage owners, but reduced the basic services cottage owners have funded (via lease fees) for decades,” he adds.

“This year, cottage owners were prohibited from using the parks lagoon to dump sewage and waste from their septic tanks, resulting in significantly higher costs to transport the sewage to Grouard and elsewhere.”

And, Parks no longer allows household garbage from the cottage area to be disposed of in one of the dumpsters, increasing the risk of attracting bears into the area because garbage is now stored onsite.

Permission to remove hazardous trees is becoming burdensome, adding to the cottage owner’s frustration.

There are 72 cottages at Winagami Lake Provincial Park. The majority of the owners are from the Peace Country and use the cottages on a seasonal basis.

“In many cases, their cottage insurance coverage is minimum or they don’t have insurance at all, in either case they will likely have to repair the damage and losses themselves,” says Beach.

Many owners have been at Winagami for decades and built the cottages themselves. Beach says they take pride in being stewards of the park.

Generally, the location has been safe. Until now!

“This incident has shocked the cottage community leaving us on edge,” says Beach.

But they are moving forward. Beach says the association will work more closely with the RCMP and will be establishing a Cottage Owners on Patrol program.

“Cottage owners will now be more diligent in observing and reporting suspicious activities and some have already or are planning to upgrade their cottages with extra security measures including alarms and other surveillance equipment,” says Beach.

“Winagami Lake cottage owners will recover from this and be a stronger and more resilient community from it,” he concludes.