Bill 68, establishing a…

Bill 68, establishing a provincial conservation agency including a reduction from 36 to 7 regional conservation authorities, is based on a proposed structure that requires more details and transparency before further steps are taken.

Issues Include:

It will be difficult for the central permit granting authority to take into account local issues on a timely basis which would result in further cost, delay and not "protect Ontario".

The proposed regional authority boundaries do not follow actual watersheds. Essex County does not share a watershed with the proposed Lake Erie Regional Conservation Authority.

The proposed regional authority borders also fail to respect and take into account the importance of the historic relationships established between local municipalities and their conservation authorities.
If there are individual problems of overlapping jurisdictions and delay in permitting and standards why can those not be handled as individual issues as compared to the proposed province wide restructuring.

Bill 68 states that the province wide agency will oversee the transition from 36 to 7 authorities but the question arises as to a transition to what?

If the transition is that the local authorities cease to exist what happens to the lands they own and are invested in them?

If certain lands are purchased with provincial grants, did the grants stipulate that the province would have the right to take over ownership?

If strategic planning must align with provincial objectives, are the provincial objectives guided by the Conservation Authorities Act or the provincial priority to build more housing which appears to be a separate provincial objective?

If it is a provincial objective to "Protect Ontario" and a provincial objective to build more housing it appears that it both objectives can be satisfied in order that housing not be built on inappropriate lands.

The Essex Region Conservation Foundation has received donations specific to our region. It is unclear what the legal ramifications are if the local authority ceases to exist as a result of the restructuring.

I am sure there are many other issues that should be examined before steps are taken with the Bill 68 proposals.

Stop now and do a proper consultation procedure that protects the environment and supports the provincial objective to increase housing on a timely and efficient basis.