Saugeen Shores council is being asked to bring lifeguards back to its beaches.
The Port Elgin and Saugeen Township Beachers' Association have formally requested that lifeguard patrol be reintroduced to the Port Elgin main beach, a service that existed for about 40 years until it was cut in the 1980s due to cost and liability concerns.
President David Shemilt says with thousands of people flocking to the beach on a daily basis in the summer, ensuring the safety of those visitors should be the next step for a municipality like Saugeen Shores that is a tourism destination.
"Whether it be to ensure that paddle boarders have a life jacket on, or whether our swimmers are safe, I think that's the most important thing, it is a safety concern," says Shemilt. "We've invited all these people to our beach to swim, we need to make sure they are safe."
Council has referred the request to the municipal ad-hoc waterfront committee for a recommendation and Councillor Neil Menage says the committee will have an in-depth discussion and likely instruct municipal staff to find out how much it will cost to bring in lifeguards.
He says the only way he will support a lifeguard program is if council goes "all-in" and expands the request to not only include the Port Elgin main beach, but also the other popular beaches in Saugeen Shores, like Southampton and Gobles Grove in Saugeen Township.
Two people have died in the water off Saugeen Shores in the past month.
