December 8, 2025 From: Blue…

December 8, 2025

From: Blue Dot Northumberland & Community Power Northumberland Co-op Inc.

On Dec.3 the Ganaraska Conservation Board released a media statement outlining their reasons for opposing the Proposed Conservation Authority Consolidation. As residents of Northumberland County and frequent users of this watershed both of our organizations stand in support of their response to the regional consolidation of Ontario's conservation authorities.

Our rationale for this stance:

#1 Local, Watershed-Based Representation Matters
Conservation authorities are governed by provincial law, but they are created, funded and managed by municipal governments. Ontario’s watershed management system has operated for nearly eighty years on the principle that local elected municipal officials sit on the boards to oversee their conservation and environmental work and budgets, the majority of which is paid by municipal taxes.
The proposed changes, the specific details of which are still unclear, will centralize governance under a provincial agency likely minimizing the oversight and control currently exercised by local boards.
#2 Municipal Oversight of Local Taxpayer Dollars Matters
Current governance structure allows local Boards to guide and oversee how they are delivering on their programs and services that they are funding with local taxpayer dollars. A centralized bureaucracy, with a mandate to set provincial policy direction, creates a governance system where municipal dollars are being spent under provincial direction without any municipal oversight.
#3 Who Sits at the Decision-making Table Matters
The size, resources and capability of the Province’s Conservation Authorities differ noticeably. Bill 68’s proposed centralized bureaucracy does not address this issue. It quite likely will further worsen the current situation by minimizing and potentially eliminating the role of smaller and rural municipalities from the planning and oversight decision-making table,
#4 Local Science-Based Work Matters
Every one of Ontario’s conservation authorities oversees a different kind of environment. The ecosystems, the limits, the challenges within a Conservation Authority’s zone of responsibility are defined by science and nature. Successful management of these environments requires science-based field-staff who are accountable to our local communities. A boots-on-the-ground approach, overseen by local authorities, is far more likely to be effective and accountable than the centralized bureaucracy proposed in Bill 68.
An Alternative approach: Streamline, Modernize and Improve Local Services
The rationale for the proposed re-structuring of the governance system is to improve efficiency and to streamline and standardize conservation authority operations across the province.
The alternative to consolidation and restructuring proposed in Bill 68 is to:
• restore recent cuts in provincial funding,
• mandate what hardware and software local Boards can use and fund the purchase and implementation of both,
• work with local Conservation Boards to update local planning guidelines to address housing and development issues