Province’s plan to consolidate Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities into seven has divided opinions locally<\/p>\n
Today is the last chance to share your opinion on the Ford government\u2019s plan<\/a> to consolidate the province\u2019s 36 conservation authorities into seven regional bodies.<\/p>\n What looks like bureaucratic \u201crestructuring\u201d on paper is, in reality, a direct risk to the only lake in Ontario with its own legislated watershed protection plan, warns advocates.<\/p>\n Lake Simcoe is protected under the Lake Simcoe Protection Act, 2008, and the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan \u2014 a comprehensive, watershed-specific plan grounded in decades of science and local work.<\/p>\n Ontario insists the revamp would improve services and result in no job losses. The proposed areas for the seven new regional authorities will also be better aligned with natural watersheds and help reduce duplication, the province says.<\/p>\n While there\u2019s a general sense of support if the planned amalgamation<\/a> delivers services more efficiently and more economically, there\u2019s also great concern about how the plan would be rolled out and how it would impact the local municipalities the conservation authorities were created to protect.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal of modernizing conservation authorities to better address today\u2019s challenges, and to create more consistency in permitting and technical expertise across the network, makes sense. And, if executed thoughtfully, it could lead to efficiencies and much more resilience across the province,\u201d Rob Baldwin, chief administrative officer at the Lake Simcoe Regional Conservation Authority (LSRCA), said in an email.<\/p>\n The LSRCA’s catchment area includes Barrie, Oro-Medonte, Innisfil, Bradford West Gwillimbury and Ramara, as well as other municipalities in the watershed in York and Durham regions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government has said that no changes to day-to-day operations are being proposed, so I think that\u2019s reassuring and brings a level of confidence that services to municipalities won\u2019t be impacted,” Baldwin added.<\/p>\n Jonathan Scott, chair of the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (NVCA), which includes Barrie, The Blue Mountains, Bradford, Collingwood, Clearview, Essa, Innisfil, Oro-Medonte, Springwater and Wasaga Beach, among other municipalities<\/a>, says he agrees with some of the proposed changes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government is right to want a conservation authority system that is more consistent, transparent and efficient to build more homes faster,\u201d said Scott, although he was concerned that such a drastic consolidation could wreak havoc if not properly managed.<\/p>\n He contends the government\u2019s amalgamation plan could risk creating a larger, more distant bureaucracy that\u2019s less accountable and less responsive to local needs.<\/p>\n The strength of Ontario\u2019s current model lies in its local expertise \u2014 staff who understand the watersheds, municipalities, businesses and communities they serve,\u201d Scott said. \u201cLosing that local connection could make the very housing and infrastructure approvals the province wants to speed up more cumbersome and less responsive to local assistance to move files forward.<\/p>\n \u201cIn other words, a bigger, less nimble, more distant bureaucracy could well have the opposite effect of the government\u2019s goal to speed up approvals for building homes and creating jobs,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n