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 given enough information to understand the extent of disagreement and opposition surrounding the initiative.
The Geopark’s own recent correspondence acknowledges concerns that do not appear on the fundraising page, which paints a more complicated picture:
Fundraising Page
“After more than three years of research, partnership building, and listening, we are entering a new phase—sharing what has been learned and inviting open, transparent dialogue across the region.”
Recent Correspondence
“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.”
Those two statements appear difficult to reconcile.
Fundraising Page
“It is a voluntary, community-driven partnership network”
Recent Correspondence
“our materials may have created the impression of participation or support where none had been given.”
That raises a question about how “community-driven partnership network” should be understood when municipal participation or support may not have been given.
Fundraising Page
“A grassroots initiative is now underway to bring communities, First Nations, and regional partners together to explore the creation of the Georgian Bay Geopark—one of the most remarkable of its kind in the world, with the long-term goal of UNESCO designation.”
Recent Correspondence
“We recognize that trust has to be earned, and that the first step is a more respectful and direct conversation.”
That raises a question about how broadly the community, First Nations and regional partnership described on the fundraising page actually extends.
Meanwhile, neither the fundraising page nor the June letter discloses the formal opposition expressed by 11 municipalities, eight First Nations, three conservation organizations and three community groups.
That matters because UNESCO says the establishment of a UNESCO Global Geopark should be based on a bottom-up process involving relevant local and regional stakeholders and authorities, with firm commitment from local communities and strong local partnerships with long-term public and political support.
The extent of the opposition to the Georgian Bay proposal is information a prospective donor may reasonably want to know.
The Geopark’s fundraising materials indicate that more than $360,000 has been raised since the first documented letter of opposition in June 2025 and donations currently are just north of $831,000.
If you were considering donating to the Geopark, wouldn’t you want to know about this information before deciding whether to contribute?
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.
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…
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…
Parks Canada’s Ability to Transport Visitors to and from Beausoleil Island Cannot Keep Up with Demand.
In 2022, Parks Canada released a report titled Georgian Bay Islands National Park of Canada and Beausoleil Island National Historic Site of Canada Management Plan You can access the full report here. The following are excerpts from the report: Established in 1929, Georgian Bay Islands National Park is Canada’s smallest national park, consisting of 50…
