A Kitchener family was evicted from the campgrounds at Rideau River Provincial Park for unruly behaviour and offensive language.
Nicole Willfang and her boyfriend believe they did nothing wrong and said they were targeted by an overzealous park employee who ticketed Willfang’s father-in-law and evicted the couple, their parents and their kids. The couple said their unwarranted eviction ended their vacation prematurely.
“We weren't being loud, we weren't drinking crazy. We weren't laughing loudly. We weren't yelling or anything,” according to Willfang.
“We were sitting there peacefully at a camp fire, I don’t know if he wanted us to go to bed,” said Wilffang’s boyfriend Dakota Maine.
According to the family, their problems at the park started on Tuesday, when an employee asked Willfang about her open can of alcohol at the beach. Two days later, on Thursday night, a different park employee came by the family’s campgrounds.
“He just came over and said we were being excessively loud,” said Maine.
The employee left, according to the family, without incident. The family didn't consider the visit to be a formal warning.
“He walked away and then the next day came back and said my dad was swearing at him. That never happened,” said Maine.
It wasn’t until Friday night, nearly one week after arriving on the campgrounds, when the park employee returned to inform the family they needed to leave.
“We were in the middle of cooking dinner when he evicted us,” said Maine.
According to Wilffang, they had an hour to collect their belongings and leave the property, after the park employee handed Maine’s father a $180 for unruly behaviour and offensive language.
“We were not being rowdy at all, there may have been swearing in whatever we had been talking about that night,” said Willfang. “But I don’t think it was excessive by any means.”
Willfang and her family dispute the ticket and believe they were unfairly targeted by the employee.
“He had zero remorse that he was sending us home on a 6 hour drive with our two little children. He did not care at all, he was very proud of himself,”
Officials at the park declined to comment on the specific incident, but pointed to the park's code of conduct, which all guests sign when booking campsites.
Willfang said she wants a refund and the employee punished for how he treated her family.
“I'm still glad we went to Ottawa, I just wish we'd picked a different park.”
