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Police seek assistance with abandoned truck on snowmobile trail

MINDEMOYA—On January 26, a pickup truck drove onto a closed Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) maintained trail, causing significant damage.

“The incident is still under investigation,” said Berkley Parisien, provincial constable and community engagement officer/media relations officer with the Manitoulin detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) told The Expositor last Wednesday.  “No charges have been laid thus far, as the driver of the truck hasn’t been identified.” 

The Manitoulin detachment of the OPP wants to remind the public to remain respectful of OFSC trails that are closed.

On January 26, 2025, at approximately 5 pm, the Manitoulin OPP received a call about a pickup truck that drove onto a closed FSC-maintained trial, causing significant damage. The vehicle was abandoned on the trail after it became stuck.

Constable Parisien said it was near Otter Lake Road in Mindemoya on an OFSC trail.

The OPP wants to remind members of the public that the snowmobile trials on Manitoulin Island are currently closed, and using an OFSC trail before it has opened is considered trespassing. Additionally, OFSC trails are for the exclusive use of snowmobiles with a valid trail pass. They are not roadways or trail systems for the use of vehicles or all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Please check ofsc.on.ca for your local trail status. “OFSC volunteers work hard to prepare and maintain the trails for snowmobilers to enjoy. Let’s work together to keep the trails safe this season.

Darren Dewar, president of the Manitoulin Snowdusters stated, “diving any type of wheeled vehicle on an OFSC trail is definitely a no-no. In this case it was a truck.”

“No, the trails are not open, we are still digitizing our landowner permission slips,” said Mr. Dewar. “We are very close to getting the last ownership permission slips signed and all municipalities have to sign off on the permissions as well. We have finally been getting the type of ride conditions, snow and ice recently, that we need.”

Mr. Dewar had told The Expositor previously, there are new insurance structures being applied to the OFSC insurer this year. The OFSC is a volunteer-led not for profit association that provides the voice for organized snowmobiling in the province of Ontario. Most of the trail fees paid by Snowdusters members go this parent organization, which in turn goes to provide the insurance that protects property owners from liability from the trails crossing their property.

Mr. Dewar explained that since the spring, at the Ontario level, they have been required by the insurance company to update the maps of all the trails, all of the properties, that have a memorandum of understanding that allows the use of the trails.

Since the close of the 2023/2024 season, OFSC club volunteers have been engaged in the largest trail data project in the history of the OFSC. “This effort focuses on using precise GPS data generated by our grooming activity to realign our digital trail footprint; with a network the size of ours, you can be sure that volunteers have had a much busier summer than normal. This is still very much a work in progress, and clubs will spend the fall and early winter finalizing their network alongside the countless gracious landowners in our communities,” the OFSC website explains.

The insurance coverage provided by the OFSC supplier is nothing to sneeze at-a cool $15 million that covers liability not only for the trail use, but all the property owners’ land. Even if the property is 100 acres and the trail only crosses 30-feet of a corner of the property, they are covered.

But right now, the issue is that too much of the trail map is not coloured green (meaning an MOU allowing the trail registered). The biggest culprit, it turns out, is the Ministry of Transportation (MTO). 

Mr. Dewar explained that whenever a trail crosses over a road, the MTO must give permission. Roadways have already been registered, but when it comes to the ditch running portion (also on MTO property) things have not yet progressed, and that is a very big deal.

“Our neighbouring (OFSC) Spanish club reached out to us recently and they are trying to get the picket line in place between Spanish and Gore Bay which is good news,” said Mr. Dewar. “And we have our trail groomer out where we can on the trails.”

If you have any information about the driver or the truck involved in this incident, please contact the Manitoulin OPP at 1-888-310-1122.

by Tom Sasvari with files by Michael Erskine

Article written by

Tom Sasvari
Tom Sasvarihttps://www.manitoulin.com
Tom Sasvari serves as the West Manitoulin news editor for The Expositor. Mr. Sasvari is a graduate of North Bay’s Canadore College School of Journalism and has been employed on Manitoulin Island, at the Manitoulin West Recorder, and now the Manitoulin Expositor, for more than a quarter-century. Mr. Sasvari is also an active community volunteer. His office is in Gore Bay.