Northern Ont. leaders fight province’s conservation authority consolidation plans

Playing null of undefined

Provincial merger of conservation authorities faces northern opposition

Ontario to merge 36 conservation authorities into 7

Ontario announces plan to create new conservation authority

Carl Jorgensen is the general manager of Conservation Sudbury. He and the conservation authority’s board recently passed a resolution opposing the province’s proposed consolidation of 36 conservation authorities into seven larger regional ones.

The province’s plan means Sudbury, North Bay, Timmins and the Sault together would become the Northeastern Ontario Regional Conservation Authority.

“I think the efficiencies that we have at conservation authorities in the northeast is extremely high,” said Jorgensen.

“We are already heavily integrated with our communities and to spread it out – I think (this) will make us less efficient. If we think about it as well, we have local expertise that know these watersheds."

Jorgensen said those local considerations are key in the work that conservation authorities do.

“Having people that work here in the Sudbury area who know all the lakes and the rivers and know the wetlands of Sudbury. They know our geology. They know our history, which is extremely important because the landscape in Sudbury is different from anywhere else in Ontario, given our past mining history and our current mining operations,” he said.

Northern Ontario Large Urban Mayors, also known as NOLUM, recently sent a letter to the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks, which says in part:

“Our conservation authorities are lean organizations that are accountable, transparent and provide efficient permit approvals and community services. The proposed regional model for northern Ontario will not eliminate red tape and has the distinct potential to result in the opposite outcome of increased bureaucracy.”

The mayors added that for northern Ontario, this is a situation of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

CTV News reached out to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks and received a response Monday evening.

“Our government is taking action to empower conservation authorities to deliver faster and more efficient outcomes for the communities they serve,” said a ministry spokesperson in their email to CTV News.

“As part of this framework, we are consulting on consolidating 36 existing conservation authorities into seven regional watershed-based authorities – which will help inform next steps.”

Ministry officials said the mandate, service areas and funding models for conservation authorities will remain unchanged and their boards will continue to be municipally appointed.

The ministry also advised that conservation authorities will continue to deliver all current programs and services – including protecting people and property from natural hazards – along with safeguarding drinking water sources and managing conservation lands, trails, and other recreational and educational facilities.

Greater Sudbury’s city council also recently voted to oppose the province’s mandate that the local conservation authority merge with three others.

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