I have testified in a court…

I have testified in a court of law for people who have been charged under the Conservation Authorities Act. In every case, the defendants are looking at up to 3-months in jail for allegedly committing an offence that has harmed no one, affected source drinking water or destroyed no flora or fauna.

On occasion, the Conservation Authorities have offered to drop the charges if the property owner pays extortion level permit fees or conducts exorbitant environmental studies—with no guarantee a permit would ever be issued.

In several cases the Conservation Authorities have entered the property without a Warrant, conducted investigations without cautioning the property owners and taking statements that were then used against the defendant.

These incidents have taken place when the Conservation Authority could not prove the affected properties were of the classification the C/A’s claimed. In other words: Claiming a property is a ‘wetland’ without having any evidence what-so-ever that a property is indeed a ‘wetland’, laying charges and then denying the Ontario Wetland Evaluation System (OWES) applies to the instant case—when it is the OWE System that dictates how wetlands are determined.

The Conservation Authorities have routinely violated the Conservation Authorities Act itself, their own regulations, the Building Code Act, the Statute of Frauds, the Conveyancing Act, Section 8 of the Charter and the Rule of Law.

The Conservation Authorities are a government unto themselves, answering to no one while taxing and charging with impunity.

Their permit fee schedule is so onerous, that I am now recommending to legal professionals they need to advise their clients not to build anything—even a deck or dog-house, build nothing if a Conservation Authority permit is required. At times, the permitting fees alone can amount to 30-50% of the cost of the entire project and add months of unnecessary delay.

If the Progressive Conservative government of Doug Ford wants to retard economic growth in Ontario—do nothing. Simply, leave the C/A’s to their own devices.