People heading to Gimli beach this summer may want to think twice about which family members to bring along.
Dogs are now banned from both the beach and the boardwalk.
Gimli beach was awarded the internationally recognized blue flag eco-certification this week.
That means its well-groomed sands meet high safety and environmental standards.
"This is important to us economically. It's important to us socially," said Randy Woroniuk, mayor of the RM of Gimli.
Because of that certification, Gimli’s mayor and council agreed to extend its dog ban from the sandy beach to the boardwalk.
"I feel and council feels that the blue flag destination is too important not to maintain those standards," said Woroniuk. "Signs will be going up. A flag will be going up."
The rules come into effect immediately, but the move has drawn criticism from many who use the boardwalk.
"I see their point, and I think there's a case to be made for it but... I've lived here a long time, I've never had any kind of a problem with dog droppings on the boardwalk itself," said Walter Barg, who bikes along the boardwalk two or three times a week.
The Gimli boardwalk is a little more than a block long.
It sits at the south end of the beach and spans north from the break wall.
Gimli's mayor said a nearby dog park is under construction to minimize the impact to dog owners.
Woroniuk expects that dog park to open in the coming weeks.
