proposed consolidating Ontario\u2019s 36 regional conservation authorities <\/a>(CA) into seven.<\/p>\nThe move, according to the province, is meant to strengthen and streamline practices, free up resources and reduce delays for businesses, landowners and farmers seeking permits that need approval from a CA.<\/p>\n
Many municipalities have voiced opposition about the proposal, citing less local connection to the protected lands and less understanding of each area\u2019s unique ecosystems.<\/p>\n
Ramara Coun. Dana Tuju suggested the township support the opposition, but requested feedback from Coun. Joe Gough, who sits on the board of the Lake Simcoe Regional Conservation Authority.<\/p>\n
Initially skeptical of the potential outcomes of consolidating authorities, Gough said he feels\u00a0the different conservation authorities surrounding Georgian Bay and Lake Huron would benefit from consolidating.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt opens up more funding opportunities for Lake Simcoe Regional Conservation Authority,\u201d he said, \u201cLake Simcoe protection wouldn\u2019t be watered down by helping some of these other conservation authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
With it being the larger group, the Lake Simcoe CA would likely absorb some of the smaller ones from the surrounding areas. This could have various positive impacts especially for the groups struggling with funding, or without enough equipment or personnel, Gough said at this week’s council meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of the conservation authorities don\u2019t even have a human resources director,\u201d said Gough.<\/p>\n
Without an HR director these authorities may not be fully up to date with information regarding monitoring methods and systems, or other opportunities, he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually going to be a win for the Lake Simcoe Regional Conservation Authority growing stronger,\u201d noted Gough.<\/p>\n
In light of the councillor\u2019s contribution, Mayor Basil Clarke proposed a different motion.<\/p>\n
Instead of supporting opposition to the conservation authority consolidation, Ramara could request a copy of the Lake Simcoe Regional Conservation Authority\u2019s report to Simcoe County, and make it a public record, posted on Ramara\u2019s next council information package.<\/p>\n
Tuju and the rest of council agreed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018Lake Simcoe protection wouldn\u2019t be watered down by helping some of these other conservation authorities,\u2019 said councillor who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411520,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,173102,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-411519","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-lsrcaramara-mayor-basil-clarkecoun-dana-tujucoun-joe-goughlake-simcoe-regional-conservation-authorityconservation-authorities-consolidation","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}