Changes to Conservation Authorities Taking Shape
On March 10th, the Govenment of Ontario announed that the 36 Conservation Authorities in the province will be disbanded, and 9 new regional organisations will take their place, but the timing and details were left to be determined.
Some of that has changed, as Roy Huetl, the chair of the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority, reported to North Frontenac Council last Friday (April 10)
Huetl reported that he has put his name forward to remain as Chair of the MVCA at the organisations 47th, and final, Annual General Meeting this week.
He also reported about a meeting he had been part of with officials from the Minstry of the Environment one day earlier, on April 9th, where some of the details about the changeover were shared.
“The transition will officially be February 1st, 2027,” he said. The new St. Lawrence Regional Conservation Authority will encompass both the Mississipi Valley and the Rideau Valley Conservation Authorities, along with the South Nation and Raisin Region Conservation Authorities.
“Not everything will be done by then, but most of the stuff will be done,” he added.
Assuming that he remains in the position of chair of the MVCA after the Agm this week, Huetl will be sitting on a transition committee that will start meeting shortly to help plan the changeover. The committee will include the chair and General Managers from the four CA's that are to become one.
There will be a project lead appointed by the Province to lead that transition
“After the transition the 9 project leaders who, after the transition, will become the general managers. The project is looking at people who have experience, during amalgamation, have experience in terms of environmental concerns, governane, all that kind of stuff, so how they are going to make those appointments by July, but we'll see how that goes.”
He said that the province will pay for the transition, until it is done.
A new organisation, the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency (OPCA) is th4e agency that is doing all the work of the transition.
“The municipalities will see the transtion plans, and will be able to comment on the plans. If the transition plan cannot be agreed upon, then the province will step in and complete it themselves.”
One item that gave Huetl some comfort after the meeting, was the commitment by the Ministry that “everything that belongs to the CAs that will form the new regional CA, will belong to the new CA, February 1st. My concern is always the dams and the infrastructure here, and as long as the hold to that word, it will be good.”
Municipal representation on the new CAs will be appointed at the county level, not the lower tier municipal township councils.
Over the next couple of weeks, the presentatoin that Huetl was invited to as chair of the MVCA, will be avaialble to all the municipal councils that currently fund Conservation Authorities.
Frontenac County will be served by two Regional Conservation Authorities, as the Cararaqui and Quinte Regional Conservation Authorities will become part of the Eastern Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority.
The published documentation about the new OPCA focusses on two main goals for the Minisry of the Environment in establishing a centalised organisation One is efficiency, and the other is development,
“The OPCA centralized leadership, tools and resources to ensure a smooth and organized regional consolidation of conservation authorities, by enhancing digital and technical resources and providing centralized services to strengthen front-line programs and realize more predictable services, including permiting, supporting housing, infrastructure, economic growth and watershed management.”
A second change that will impact planning approval processes in rural Ontario, came into effect at the end of March, with the repeal of the Endangered Species Act, which has been replaced by the Species Conservation Act, which has a dminisches scope of authority over land use planning processes.
