It is my opinion that…

It is my opinion that conservation authorities have gone way beyond their original mandate. When the CA Act was first brought into law there was a demand for erosion protection due to deforestation and increased agricultural use. Flood protection became a major issue after the devastation caused by Hurricane Hazel. As a result there was a need for floodplain mapping and associated regulation in order to keep houses and other structures out of the floodplain and away from the dangers of flooding.

However, since these mandates were issued the conservation authorities were allowed to get involved in the review of other non-essential and unrelated programs in association with municipalities and the province. These include wetlands, planning and development reviews and other less obvious programs. This has hindered development in this province and created a bureaucratic nightmare to the point where it costs time and money to get plans to the development stage.

Conservation authorities must focus their energy and resources on floodplain management and water management and not those activities which are non-essential such as planning act concerns.

Thankyou