Should vehicles be allowed on Ipperwash Beach? Indigenous group and property owners square off

To be at the water's edge and gaze along the length of West Ipperwash beach in southwestern Ontario is to put yourself inside a postcard.

Waves break over long stretches of white sand and vistas of deep blue water stretch uninterrupted to the horizon. On sweltering days when the temperature tips toward 30 C, there's a constant and refreshing breeze.

"Ipperwash Beach is a beautiful thing," said Jason Henry, a community member and former chief of the Chippewas of Kettle & Stony Point First Nation. "The sand, the lake, the water is so beautiful. That's why people have been coming here and coming back for years. It's paradise."

But last weekend, there was trouble — again — at this idyllic beach between Sarnia and Grand Bend that's on traditional Indigenous land and adjacent to the First Nation.

A video on the area's Facebook page showed a shouting match between a property owner and First Nation members who showed up to conduct a "beach cleaning." As well as removing trash and debris, it included pulling down sand berms, fences, signs and other items property owners had placed on sections of the beach in front of their properties. 

Although police were called, the dispute didn't escalate into a physical confrontation. The beach cleaning, which involved chainsaws and other motorized equipment, went ahead. Most material being used by property owners to mark out a personal use area of the beach in front of their properties was removed. 

Representatives of Kettle & Stony Point and a group that represents cottage owners plan to meet next week to discuss the incident and avoid further conflict.

The band's current chief, Kimberly Bressette, did not respond to an email request for comment.

"It will be good to sit down, and just hash everything out and get back on track," said Dave Bowen, president of the West Ipperwash Property Owners Association. "We want to work out a compromise like we always have." 

Disputes over beach access between property owners and the First Nation stretch back decades.

In 1926, Kettle & Stony Point sold 83 acres (about 33.5 hectares) of the beachfront property for development into cottages and year-round homes.

In the 1990s, efforts by Kettle & Stony Point to challenge that land sale in court were denied in a series of legal challenges that ended with a Supreme Court decision.

Central to the dispute is the question of who has access to the beach. 

While many property owners point to deeds that show their property lines extending to the water, both sides have tried to strike a balance between allowing public access to the beach that doesn't infringe on property owners' desire to preserve their enjoyment of it.