Cathy Copeland simply wanted to clean the washrooms in the church before Saturday's sermon.
She never imagined a small detour would result in being confronted by three Ministry of Natural Resources officials, an OPP officer and a $155 ticket.
Copeland, who turns 70 in June, and her husband Sid, 70, who is disabled, went to St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Rondeau Provincial Park early last Friday evening. The couple were confronted with two deep pools of water where they would normally drive up to the church doors.
“He (Sid) can walk from there up to the church and normally that's what we would do,” said Copeland. “But we were carrying a vacuum cleaner and mops and buckets and stuff like that so we couldn't do that.”
Mr. Copeland uses a walker and a cane, he also suffers from Alzheimer disease.
Instead, she took a detour through some tall prairie grass along a pathway parishioners had used for about 50 years before they were asked to stop several years ago.
Moments after the couple entered the church, Copeland heard voices outside and went to investigate.
She came face-to-face with two MNR officers.
One officer said Copeland had driven over protected dune and tall grass prairie and a snake habitat.
Explaining her husband's mobility issues, the impassable water and the history of the pathway, Copeland apologized and said it wouldn't happen again.
She went to resume her cleaning, but was told the officers weren't done. She gave them her name and address and an officer made a call on her radio, said Copeland.
“Within minutes, the OPP cruiser arrived here with the lights flashing and Mr. (Richard) Post in his flak jacket got out of the cruiser,” she said.
She reiterated her reasons to Post, the park superintendent, and said, “I'm really sorry it won't happen again. And he says, 'Well that's not good enough'.”
Copeland's chin begins to tremble and her eyes well up.
“I was really afraid, I really thought I was going to get taken into custody,” she said, her voice breaking. “I've heard this happening to other people, but I didn't realize how traumatic it was for them until now.”
She was referring to complaints by other cottagers and park-goers who have had confrontational encounters with Post in recent years.
Copeland was told her she could finish cleaning but when she and her husband went to leave she was stopped.
“I don't know if they were deciding if I was going to get taken into custody,” she said. “Or whether they were going to give me a warning, or deciding if I was going to have a ticket or what.”
At approximately 9 p.m., Copeland received $155 ticket for driving off-road and directed her to drive out over the tall grass prairie to get out.
Copeland, who has been a cottager at the park since 1979, said she was shocked, not just at the ticket but the show of force.
“There's all kinds of things going on in the park, I'm cleaning the church,” she said. “ Was that really necessary for them to spend three hours, a police cruiser, an OPP officer and three MNR officers?”
Copeland will be fighting the ticket as well as sending an email detailing the incident to John Salo, direct supervisor of Post and the MNR officers, the Minister of Natural Resources and Chatham-Kent Essex MPP Rick Nicholls asking for the ticket to be rescinded and an apology to be issued.
The Chatham Daily News stopped to speak to Post at the park.
He declined to comment directly on the details of the incident.
“We can confirm there's a ticket before the courts,” said Post. “We don't talk about the circumstances of what happened because that's up to a judge to talk about.”
Jolanta Kowalski, senior media relations officer for the Ministry of Natural Resources also declined to comment on the occurrence other than to issue the following statement in an email.
“The Ministry of Natural Resources remains committed to working with Rondeau Park visitors in our ongoing efforts to protect the rare ecosystems and endangered species in this park.”
http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2014/05/ ... or-offence