The Tim Hortons Children's Foundation says Meditation Lake in the Whiteshell remains the group's preferred site for a wilderness youth camp but it will review additional data before making a decision.

David Newnham, foundation vice-president, said he recognizes that there is opposition to the Meditation Lake site but adds that the recently completed month-long public consultation process also revealed strong support for the camp at the same location.

However, Newnham said the foundation will slow its timetable on the project to review a summer's worth of water-quality data the province will collect on the lake.

Although Meditation Lake was identified as the best location in Manitoba by the Conservation Department, senior department officials were caught by surprise when opponents stated the lake has been plagued by toxic algae blooms and would be unsuitable for swimming and canoeing activities.

"We want to make sure the water quality in the lake is appropriate for a children's camp," Newnham said. "It is possible we will need to take a look at other locations if Meditation Lake is not deemed to be an appropriate spot."

In addition to the water issue, opponents to the project have focused on the secret nature of negotiations between the province and Tim Hortons and the province's refusal to develop a management plan for its protected areas.

Earlier this week, the Manitoba chapter of the Wilderness Committee delivered to the province letters from 600 people opposed to the project plus another 200 emails also in opposition.

The Tim Hortons Children's Foundation operates five wilderness youth camps in Canada and a sixth in the United States.

Tim Hortons settled on Meditation Lake because of its relatively close proximity to Winnipeg and because the lake is on the edge of a no-development area considered ideal for the wilderness experience the Tim Hortons camps provide to disadvantaged youth.

Newnham said the delay doesn't mean that the foundation will look at building a camp in another province, adding the group is committed to building a $10-million, year-round camp somewhere in Manitoba.

The Conservation Department said this week that it will draw up a list of alternative camp locations if the water- quality analysis rules out Meditation Lake.