The CAO for Grey Sauble Conservation Authority is worried proposed changes to the Conservation Authorities Act in the province's Budget Bill 229 will put communities at risk, and has called for community action.
The recent Ontario omnibus budget bill included major changes for Conservation authorities. Tim Lanthier said Schedule 6 proposes changes that will effectively undo decades of planning to keep communities safe, and said the changes came without warning or consultation.
Lanthier said it will impact how conservation authorities issue and enforce permits to regulate development in areas with natural hazards like flood and erosion issues or wetlands.
He added they need to enforce that legislation with tools like a stop work order, and the ability to enter the property to investigate.
"The omnibus bill is pulling back on those tools, and making it nearly impossible for us to enter on to properties, and revoking the ability for us to issue a stop work order," he explained.
He said that interferes with their ability to protect people, property and the environment, and could lead to costly problems down the road.
Lanthier said changes to the development permit process include permit appeals to be submitted directly to the Minister of Natural Resources & Forestry and for power to be given to the Minister to issue their own permits. He said this has the potential for significant negative impacts on Ontarians as it lacks transparency and could add political motivation to permit decisions while removing the use of background information, local watershed knowledge, and scientific expertise on which conservation authority staff currently make these decisions. Further, this change would allow bypassing of the hearing process and could result in development in unsafe locations such as flood plains and the destruction of environmental features.
The Province has also introduced new fee appeal methods that may cause a significant administrative burden on staff and hearing boards, ultimately leading to delays in development reviews. Ontario’s conservation authorities are tasked with keeping local communities safe from the impacts of natural hazards. Amendments to the Planning Act that remove the ability of conservation authorities to appeal planning decisions will dramatically reduce the ability of conservation authorities to provide this service.
Among the changes, the Province can determine which municipally or self-funded programs conservation authorities can undertake.
"I have very strong concerns with the province setting regulations that define what these programs and services look like, when they don't fully understand what these programs and services look like. And that disucussion is better left at the municipal, conservation authority relationship level," he said.
"So between the municipality, and money we raise ourselves, we bring in about 93% of our total budget. The remaining 7% is provided by the province, and only 1.2% of that total is for flood forecasting and that type of work, the remainder is drinking water source protection," he said.
"Our source water protection region includes Grey Sauble Conservation Area, Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority, and Northern Bruce Peninsula. That shows up in our budget, and we're looking after that whole are for that. so if we exclude that from the budget, the province is only actually contributing about 1.2% of our total operating budget, and zero to our capital budget," he continued.
The importance of safe and healthy communities, as well as access to nature for personal well-being has become extremely evident this year, which highlights the value that conservation authorities provide across Ontario.
"If you value the work of conservation authorities to protect the environment and to protect our communities from the impacts of natural hazards, it is vital that you speak up now. Call your MPP, email your councilors, or go to GSCA's website to advocate for the removal of Schedule 6 from Bill 229," concluded Lanthier.
