Editor’s note: This paper is printed out of Wilderness tours and is owned by Joe Kowalski.
Joe Kowalski, owner of Wilderness Tours, proposed via video call that the Township of Whitewater Region give him and his son the authority to perform weddings on his river rafting tours and for a small chapel.
“Last summer I had a very off-the-wall question, they said ‘can you marry us’?” he said. “Wedding tourism is a growing part of our business. Whitewater region, because we have so much waterfront, it’s become a prime destination for marriages.”
“I would like the flexibility to perform marriages. Only at our own location, and only if someone requests it.”
He said he planned to build an ‘eloping chapel’ on the Tours property in order to marry couples.
He said that Ontario requires a wedding officiate must either be an ordained minister, or be appointed by the local municipality.
Councillor McLaughlin asked if there was a protocol to the wedding, such as a wedding certificate.
Clerk Miller said that there would be a proposal later about the requirements.
“I fully encourage the service.” Councillor Neil Nicholson said. “I only ask that clear guidelines be put forward so that they provide the level of quality of service they would come to expect from a Township Official.”
Councillor Jackson felt it would be “helpful to our businesses” in the Township, and asked Clerk Millar if Kowalski had been informed of the requirements to receive documentation.
CAO Rob Trembley said that “Mr. Kowalski is committed to doing whatever is required to meet the standards. Me and Carmen love Wilderness Tours and River Run, but we don’t want to be there every week.”
