The Province’s proposed…

The Province’s proposed amalgamation of the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority (LRCA) with six other Southern Ontario Conservation Authorities to form the “Huron-Superior Regional Conservation Authority” suggests a profound lack of geographical awareness. The size of northwestern Ontario compared to any of the other regions in the province, and the number of wetlands and waterways it comprises require separate consideration.

Standardizing responses to common situations (or standardizing software or applications) across CAs has merits, to the extent that said standardization does not compromise the decision-making capability of a local CA that might find itself in a unique or non-standard situation. However, the proposal as it stands risks weakened emergency support and response, and also risks a reduction of local expertise, and experience.

I support LRCA’s recommendation that the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority form a stand-alone regional conservation authority as the “Northwestern Ontario Regional Conservation Authority”.