I am writing on behalf of…

I am writing on behalf of the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists to provide input on the proposed consolidation of Ontario’s Conservation Authorities.

It’s hard to understand how merging the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority into a Lake Superior and Northern Lake Huron region could benefit the former. A Huron-Superior regional board is in no way aligned with manageable watershed boundaries. Lake Superior and Lake Huron are two huge lakes with extensive watersheds. The area that LRCA serves is very different from the Lake Huron conservation authorities and in a very different environment. In contrast the proposal for Lake Ontario, the smallest by surface area of the Great Lakes, is to create three separate regions for conservation authorities that have much more in common.

The local vision, priorities and particular needs of LRCA and the voices of its municipalities would be overwhelmed among the southern municipalities on a Huron-Superior regional board. Local staff would be managed by board members with no experience of the Northwestern Ontario environment and issues there. In person contact would involve long distance travel. In addition, control of reserve funds and lands and other assets paid for by local municipalities and donors would be lost, with potential legal consequences in some cases.

The interests of the land and people in the watersheds on Lake Superior’s north shore should be served by a Northwestern Ontario region.

Barbara Yurkoski
Advocacy Lead, Thunder Bay Field Naturalists