THUNDER BAY – The city is calling on the provincial government to stop the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority’s merger with other conservation authorities.
City council voted unanimously to reject the proposed Huron-Superior Regional Conservation Authority boundary that would absorb the region’s conservation authority.
Coun. Albert Aiello said that when he first heard of the merger, “alarm bells” rang.
“Decisions will be made for our city from 1,500 kilometres away, and that’s shocking,” he said.
The LRCA is one of 36 conservation authorities in Ontario. The province plans to reduce that number to seven under a new Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency, removing local government and leaving municipal cost distribution undefined.
According to a report to council, local municipalities provide approximately 50 per cent of total conservation authority funding, while the province provides approximately 5 per cent.
Coun. Andrew Foulds couldn’t come up with the words to explain his feelings on the merger other than “this is just crazy town.”
“Members of council, remember that this is a board that doesn’t have to ask permission for levies. They can simply send their levies, and we have to pay,” said Foulds.
“There are so many issues. Reserve funds we’ve contributed. The City of Thunder Bay contributed reserve funds to the conservation authority that’s sitting there. It just (raises) questions: what happens with those dollars? Would they be absorbed through the province and through these other agencies?” said Coun. Trevor Giertuga.
“It’s just not a good idea.”
Aiello noted that one of the main focuses of the conservation authority is the McIntyre floodway, which protects the city’s downtown core.
“Now picture somebody 1,500 kilometres away making that decision for you on if they should dredge or not. There are other municipalities that also do floodways, conservation organizations that do floodways that in the event something happened, would affect a greater number of people. So now we sit back and wonder, well, where would Thunder Bay rank in all this?” he said.
Foulds noted that he doubts municipalities like Hanover or Kincardine have the same environmental conservation interests as Thunder Bay.
“This is not okay,” he said. “And I hope that MPP Vaugeois, MPP Holland, Rickford and Mamakwa are listening to us, and I hope that they’re listening to all the other municipalities that are passing this resolution.”
Coun. Kristen Oliver said the merger was brought up at a Municipality Association of Ontario board meeting last Friday, and the board will be expressing their concern about the oversight agency the provincial government is proposing.
“AMO will also be looking at a new funding model that is less reliant on municipal investment, while raising concerns about weakening municipal governance within its authorities. So you know, as Coun. Giertuga mentioned, there’s a loss of autonomy. We’re looking at geographical sizes that are just unmanageable. So, I just wanted to point out that this is certainly something that the province is talking about,” she said.
The city is encouraging members of the public to submit comments opposing the consolidation with Huron-Superior to the Environmental Registry of Ontario posting. Comments can be submitted until Dec. 22.
