Rich cottagers like the quiet. Inside Muskoka’s fight to stop the noise

Rich cottagers like the quiet. Inside Muskoka's fight to stop the noise

A new noise bylaw reflects a clash of cultures in Muskoka, between the millionaires and the billionaires, developers and old-timey cottagers

Rich cottagers like the quiet. Inside Muskoka’s fight to stop the noise

The “hooting” is a revealing curiosity here. Mayor Kelley wasn’t even aware it was in there. He’s a lawyer, and it’s not really a lawyer’s word. It’s ambiguous. You can hoot in exultation, but you can also “give a hoot,” or more commonly not. “Hoot” is a double-meaning, mirrored sort of word, and it helps illuminate this carnival world of quasi-wilderness luxury, Muskoka, where people who give a hoot about hooting have successfully got it banned…