When the Conservation Authorities Act (CAA) was announced last fall, the province was looking at compacting the agencies into just seven new ones.
Environment Ministry spokesperson Alexandru Cioban said the move would streamline the process.
“Ontario currently has 36 conservation authorities, each with different permitting processes, timelines and resources. That creates confusion, duplication, and inconsistent service across the province. In some cases, like Hamilton, a single municipality falls under four different conservation authorities, each with its own processes and requirements.
“Our plan for a new framework of nine regional conservation authorities will reduce duplication, direct more resources to frontline work, and modernize permitting processes.”
The proposal has met with some pushback, as critics see the move as Ford’s way of reducing oversight as he pushes for more development.
The GRCA is set to be a part of the new Eastern Lake Erie Regional Conservation Authority, along with Catfish Creek, Long Point Region and Kettle Creek Conservation Authority. Originally, the GRCA was proposed to be merged into a larger Lake Erie Regional Conservation Area, which would have included areas such as Windsor and Sarnia.
“We appreciate that the province considered the GRCA Board’s feedback in proposing a more balanced, right-sized model that includes the GRCA,” said the GRCA’s chair, John Challinor II, in a statement to The Observer.
The changes to the map follow the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) posting a proposal on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) seeking feedback on the CAA. They asked questions about the transition to regional conservation authorities, governance considerations, and approaches to ensure strong relationships with municipalities and communities within the new structure.
“We listened and used feedback from last fall’s consultations to refine and strengthen our plan, including optimizing regional boundaries to better reflect local needs, knowledge and relationships,” said Environment Minister Todd McCarthy in a release.
The ministry also announced a new $3-million fund for the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency (OPCA), created last fall to help conservation authorities with the transition to the new system.
The Ford government’s plan to move forward with the CAA has been met with controversy, even after the amendments. Critics cite that the CAA removes much-needed environmental protections and undermines local expertise and decision-making.
“CFFO is disappointed that the government did not take the advice of the farm organizations in Ontario to align authorities with the 19 watersheds in the province. We believe this would have been a much more logical plan,’’ said the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario in response to the government’s plan.
“Making these changes so we can get shovels into the ground faster for building homes and more infrastructure doesn’t justify such a change. CFFO believes a less disruptive and more productive approach would have been more beneficial, allowing each watershed to address its own regulations.”
In the GRCA board of directors’ official comments to the province last November, they agreed with the province on the need for modernizing the current conservation authority system. However, they also shared concerns.
“The GRCA board is concerned about the proposed governance structure of the OPCA. As currently designed, the agency will report to a provincial ministry and be governed entirely by provincially appointed board members. At the same time, conservation authorities, and therefore municipalities, will be required to fund all or a portion of the agency’s operations through existing levy/apportionment processes.
“This means that municipalities may ultimately contribute all or a significant share of the OPCA’s budget without having any meaningful role in shaping its governance, its priorities, or its strategic direction. For municipalities that rely heavily on conservation authority guidance for land-use planning, hazard management, infrastructure development, and emergency response, this creates a disconnect between financial responsibility and decision-making influence.”
Mike Schreiner, Ontario Green Leader and MPP for Guelph, also shared concerns about the proposed CAA. He noted that the Ontario government was dismantling the critical agencies that help protect the environment at a time when Ontario has increasingly dangerous flood risks each year.
“This government continues to centralize power into fewer and fewer hands – undermining local expertise and decision-making and gutting protections for our parks, lakes and rivers,” he said in a release.
