SDG has significant concerns…

SDG has significant concerns that these regional conservation authorities will be too large and the partnerships that conservation authorities have with local municipalities to enhance local service delivery in SDG will be lost with a larger organization. We are already seeing local organizations decline to renew partnerships and landowners consider into donations with organizations that may be governed in Ottawa or Kingston, where existing local partnerships and levels of service may no longer be provided.

We recommend that the province allow conservation authorities to consolidate on their own initiatives, like recent voluntary health unit consolidation. CAs can consider smaller boundaries with better service delivery connections and existing partnerships, such as harmonizing source protection boundaries, rather than large regional conservation authorities, especially as municipalities tend to provide a majority or plurality of funding for CAs.

We have attached a resolution that was adopted by County Council and circulated to the province, CAs and other municipalities.