Dear editor:

Your recent article on mandatory survival swim lessons raises an important issue for Niagara-on-the-Lake (“Should survival swim lessons be mandatory for Ontario’s kids? Some say yes, absolutely,” Feb. 19).

If swimming is a basic life skill — and council has supported urging the province to make it mandatory — where will our children learn?

Niagara-on-the-Lake does not have its own indoor aquatic facility. Families must travel to Niagara Falls or St. Catharines for consistent, year-round access.

That creates barriers of cost, transportation and limited program availability — the very inequities highlighted in your article.

For more than a decade, residents have advocated for a local indoor pool. Petitions have been signed, surveys completed and council consulted. Yet the recently approved parks and recreation master plan rejected proposals for an indoor aquatic facility.

It is difficult to reconcile the town council’s public support for mandatory swim education with the absence of the infrastructure required to deliver it. The data from the Lifesaving Society of Canada makes clear that water safety is not optional.

If we believe swimming saves lives, local access must be part of the plan.

Dawn McIsaac, Sheila Serio, Pam Lillos, Garron Wells (Niagara-on-the-Lake Indoor Pool Facebook group)
NOTL