WINNIPEG - A plan by Tim Hortons to open a youth camp in the Whiteshell has been scuttled by the province due to water concerns.

Conservation Minister Stan Struthers and the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation said they plan to look for another site in the Whiteshell for the year-round camp for underprivileged kids.

"We appreciate the support of the provincial government in working to find and evaluate alternative sites in the Whiteshell," Dave Newnham, foundation vice-president, said. "We are confident another site will be found that will respect the environmental sustainability needs of the park, and provide a unique experience for children and youth from economically disadvantaged homes."

The Tim Hortons Foundation had originally chosen a site adjacent to Meditation Lake for the camp, but a public outcry from campers and environmentalists prompted the province to examine concerns that the lake could not support the kind of intensive development that the camp would bring.

Tim Hortons held open houses in the spring to detail its plans.

Struthers said the public input proved invaluable, adding he is confident the suggestions for alternative locations will lead to a new site within the Whiteshell.

Struthers said the province will maintain the Mediation Lake as a non-development area, restricted only to a walk-in camping experience.

Struthers said more open houses will be held later this fall as the province and Tim Hortons considers other locations.

The Tim Horton Children’s Foundation is a non-profit, charitable organization providing opportunities for children to develop into positive, contributing members of their communities.

It operates six camps in Canada and the U.S., and has sent 120,000 economically disadvantaged children to camp over the past 35 years at no cost to their families.