Conservation Authorities (CA…

Conservation Authorities (CA) should be required to post their annual, audited financial statements on-line. This level of transparency should be in force for public bodies that receive taxpayer support.

The Board of Directors should post any conflicts of interest on line and before every Board meeting. Conflicts would include sitting as a Board member or belonging to volunteer conservation groups, that benefit in any way from the decisions of the CA Board. In our local CA, Directors of the CA sit on the Board(s) of Conservation organizations that receive hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Nature Conservancy of Canada. As a Director of both entities, the individual is a fiduciary to both groups, conflicted and possibly liable.

CA's should be required to notify landowners of any changes made to the zoning of their property. For example, the municipality should not be informing property owners their land has been rezoned Provincially Significant Wetland (PSW).

Where land is rezoned the CA should provide the property owner a copy of the Ontario Wetland Evaluation System scoring for the area of his/her property, with details of the evaluation, including all pertinent information such as date of inspection.

The 120 meter setback is excessive, effectively expropriating acres of farm land for a small creek. 10 meters would be adequate.

Where the land is in use as farm land or part of a residence, the act should specifically allow activity related to the established use. Where roads and other services cross the PSW they should not be an issue post rezoning. Farmers should be allowed to continue using the land without fear of being fined for tilling soil or other normal practices.

Where adjoining land is declared PSW, the adjacent property owner should be advised of any changes to zoning.