Is the Georgian Bay Geopark really a grassroots community-led effort?
The home page of the Georgian Bay Geopark website claims: “The Georgian Bay Geopark Initiative is a grassroots, community-led effort exploring how this internationally recognized model could help celebrate, understand, and safeguard one of Canada’s most remarkable regions.”
Is it grassroots and community-led? Fact or fiction?
Let’s start with the Board of Directors for the Geopark. There are five directors. You can access the document filed with Corporations Canada here. Are they from the community?
Two of them are from Toronto. One of them is from Peterborough. In other words, from outside the community. One is from Penetanguishene and the board chair is from Blue Mountains. There is not a single permanent resident of Northern Ontario on their board.
Does that sound grassroots or community-led to you?
Just in case you are at all unclear on whether the Geopark is a “community-led effort”, read the “apology” letter they sent in June to all of the municipalities and the local newspaper on Manitoulin Island. It explicitly admits the project is not community led while giving the impression that they are. Their letter reads:
“We understand that there is concern that the initiative moved ahead without sufficient consultation and that references to Manitoulin Island in our materials may have created the impression of participation or support where none had been given.“
The letter goes on to say:
“our communications and outreach have not been sufficient in parts of Manitoulin”
and that
“we understand the concern that geological mapping and Deep Time zone references may have been interpreted as implying municipal inclusion, support, or consent.”
Their letter neglects to mention that the Geopark has received unanimous opposition from all Manitoulin municipalities and the United Chiefs and Councils of Mnidoo Mnising.
Does this sound like a grassroots, community-led effort to you?
Is the Georgian Bay Geopark Initiative Harming the UNESCO Brand?
What happens to public trust in UNESCO when an initiative that has neither been designated nor submitted an application repeatedly places the UNESCO brand at the centre of its public messaging?
What Does “Nominate Georgian Bay” Mean?
The new Georgian Bay Geopark Executive Director, Jeff MacInnis, has recently been asking people on his personal Facebook page to “nominate” Georgian Bay to become a UNESCO Global Geopark by simply saying “YES” in the comments.
There is just one problem: saying “YES” in a Facebook comment isn’t how you nominate a UNESCO Global Geopark.
What Are Prospective Donors Being Told (and Not Being Told) About the Georgian Bay Geopark?
The Georgian Bay Geopark’s Small Change Fund page is aimed at prospective donors and currently shows $831,803 raised toward a $1 million goal. It describes the initiative in terms of partnership, community involvement and open dialogue. The issue isn’t that a fundraising page presents a project positively. The question is whether prospective donors are being…
Georgian Bay Geopark invites people to join them as they “explore” the creation of a UNESCO Global Geopark for Georgian Bay.
They pose a big question: Could Georgian Bay and the North Channel become a UNESCO global geopark? We decided to take them up on their offer. Let’s explore! We started by exploring Manitoulin Island. All 9 municipalities on Manitoulin are united in their opposition to the geopark. So are all 6 First Nations represented by…
Is the Georgian Bay Geopark a UNESCO project?….or not? You decide.
This slide was presented to the Township of the Archipelago on June 19. It looks like the Georgian Bay Geopark must be affiliated with UNESCO.. Or is it? Here are the facts: Why does the Georgian Bay Geopark constantly cite UNESCO despite having no affiliation whatsoever? Fact or fiction? You decide.
The Georgian Bay Geopark Can No Longer Call Itself an Aspiring Geopark.
As of April 2026, the Canadian Geoparks Network has removed the Georgian Bay Geopark from their website entirely. There has been no official statement from ccUNESCO or the Canadian Geoparks Network regarding why they no longer acknowledge the Georgian Bay Geopark as a project. A little bit of research uncovered the following…. A requirement for…
Canada has 5 UNESCO Geoparks
The Georgian Bay Aspiring Geopark is not like them. At 48,000 square kilometers, it is 6.1 times larger than Canada’s largest geopark, and 86.5 times larger than Canada’s smallest geopark. With a planned 100+ geosites, it will have 3.6 times more sites than Canada’s largest geopark, and 9.1 times more sites than Canada’s smallest geopark….
The Four Fundamentals of Geoparks
These are the fundamental requirements as published on the UNESCO website. Any italicized content predicated with “Our Assessment:” is not published by UNESCO. 1. Geological heritage of international value In order to become a UNESCO Global Geopark, the area must have geological heritage of international value. This is assessed by scientific professionals, as part of the…
