Conservation authorities in Ontario are contemplating their next move after Environment Minister Todd McCarthy announced the provincial government will soon introduce legislation to consolidate the 36 agencies into seven.On Friday, McCarthy said the proposed legislation would facilitate the establishment of a new provincial agency to oversee the amalgamated conservation authorities and consult on the proposed boundaries of the new regional authorities.Conservation authorities undertake a broad range of programs, including: Watershed management. Erosion control.Flood forecasting and warning.Recreation.Water-level monitoring.Plan input and review.Environmental education.Stewardship.More than 100 municipalities are within two or more conservation authorities’ boundaries and therefore subject to different rules and processes, McCarthy said, adding that an amalgamation would result in improved services. Additionally, he said, there would be no job losses.”It’s not a reduction. It’s a consolidation and an amalgamation, which means that all of the communities currently served by conservation authorities will continue to be served by conservation authorities,” McCarthy said.Concerns consolidation may lead to ‘more bureaucracy’Michael Drescher, associate professor in the University of Waterloo’s School of Planning, said conservation authorities have had to deal with a lack of funding for some time. He told CBC K-W’s The Morning Edition that more than 50 per cent of the funding for conservation authorities comes from the municipalities they serve.According to Drescher, in 2019 when the provincial government cut funding to conservation authorities by 50 per cent, “they were warned back then that that would lead to reductions in service levels, so this is a self-inflicted injury.”LISTEN | Michael Drescher talks efficiency and local ecosystems:The Morning Edition – K-W6:10Ontario to consolidate its conservation authoritiesIn the name of getting shovels in the ground, Ontario is consolidating its conservation authorities. Michael Drescher, an expert in environmental planning, talks about how that push for efficiency could affect local ecosystems.Drescher said while he does not yet have a sense of how conservation authorities would address the latest proposed changes, he knows they “have suffered in their service provision capacity because of the funding cuts.” “They had to … repeatedly over the last years change their processes. They are, of course, trying the very best to serve our communities and they are great at doing that,” Drescher said. “My concern is when we are now [reducing] conservation authorities, as was suggested from 36 that we’re having now to seven potentially in the future, and then building another agency on top of that … that sounds to me like actually more bureaucracy and not cutting red tape.” CBC News reached out to several conservation authorities to get their reaction to McCarthy’s announcement. Clicking on each link will take you to the conservation authority you’re interested in reading about:Essex Region Conservation Authority.Grand River Conservation Authority.Lakehead Regional Conservation Authority.Quinte Conservation.Sault Ste. Marie Region Conservation Authority.Conservation Sudbury.Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.Upper Thames River Conservation Authority.Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA)ERCA is one of three conservation authorities in Windsor-Essex.ERCA’s chief administrative officer, Tim Byrne, said what conservation authorities need at this time is provincial support to do their work, “not wholesale changes or deconstruction of a process that actually does work.”Byrne said he’s concerned about the public being asked to determine regional boundaries, adding “the boundaries, the limits, they are already defined by science and nature.”“If it’s watershed based, that’s a science-based definition. If it is supposed to be locally accountable, that means Windsor to Pelee Island in this region has to be directly engaged and involved through some sort of board participation to make that determination of local accountability,” he said.Tim Byrne, chief administrative officer of the Essex Region Conservation Authority, says conservation authorities need provincial support to do their work. (Dale Molnar/CBC)Byrne is concerned about how the work they currently do would be managed under what he calls “the new construct.”“We’re waiting to hear how that is going to be managed: Who is going to represent the City of Windsor’s interests, needs and concerns? Who’s going to represent the Pelee Island’s needs and concerns if it’s now going to be a provincial agency? I don’t know what that even means and how that construct is to work right now.”Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA)Based in Cambridge, GRCA manages water and other natural resources on behalf of 38 municipalities and close to one million residents of the Grand River watershed.GRCA chair John Challinor II said the agency will review and comment on the province’s proposal through the Environmental Registry of Ontario when the proposed legislation is posted. “As has been the history of the GRCA in terms of its working relationship with the province, our perspective will be constructive, fulsome, insightful and in the best interests of interest-holders,” he wrote in a statement shared with CBC News.“We are committed to being part of the solution that balances effective and efficient watershed management with Ontario’s housing goals and continuing to serve the Grand River watershed and its residents.”GRCA chair John Challinor II says his agency will review and comment on the province’s proposal through the Environmental Registry of Ontario when the proposed legislation is posted. (Submitted by Serena Catania)Challinor said GRCA will hold a special virtual meeting on Wednesday “to discuss the province’s announcement and anticipated next steps.”Lakehead Regional Conservation Authority (LRCA)LRCA, the sole conservation authority in northwestern Ontario, is also standing by to review the proposed amendments to the Conservation Authorities Act when they’re released for consultation.Chief administrative officer Tammy Cook said LRCA remains committed to watershed protection at the local level.“During the upcoming transitional period, the LRCA will continue to operate without disruption, and continue to work toward our mission of leading the conservation and protection of the Lakehead watershed,” said Cook.Tammy Cook, chief administrative officer at Lakehead Regional Conservation Authority, says it remains committed to watershed protection at the local level. (Submitted by Ryan Mackett)Quinte ConservationBrad McNevin, chief administrative officer of Quinte Conservation, said “it was a little bit of a surprise to us when the announcement came out last week” about the province’s plans to amalgamate conservation authorities, even though they got a bit of advance notice. “We did have a meeting with Minister McCarthy … at 8 o’clock Friday morning before the announcement, so we did get a little bit of a heads-up … but most of it was a surprise. Like, it’s fair to say that it was a surprise,” McNevin told CBC News.“We didn’t see the whole amalgamation into these seven regions as being a priority for the government and we didn’t know anything about — at least I didn’t know anything about the formation of a new agency called the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency, so that was certainly a surprise as well.”Brad McNevin, chief administrative officer of Quinte Conservation, says the environment minister’s announcement ‘was a little bit of a surprise.’ (CBC)While noting that Quinte Conservation has about 6,000 square kilometres of terrain to cover, McNevin said “combining us with five or six other conservation authorities will be a challenge to sort of provide support through all those areas.”McNevin said he has questions about how the new agency would work and how it’s going to provide streamlined services.“I do think that it is, I’ll say, a little bit unnerving. There’s lots of nervousness, but we also have to recognize that we do good work, we’re professional, there’s nobody out there that can provide the services and programs that conservation authorities do on the landscape.”McNevin takes solace in the fact McCarthy “has identified the importance of watershed-based programs and services, and recognizes the important work that conservation authorities do.” Sault Ste. Marie Region Conservation Authority (SSMRCA)At the SSMRCA, general manager Corrina Barrett said they too are awaiting further information about how the province’s plan would be rolled out.“We are ready and willing to work with the province to ensure that conservation authorities are doing the best job they can,” Barrett told CBC News. “In the meantime, we will continue to deliver on the important local programs and services that we have in place.”Corrina Barrett, general manager of the Sault Ste. Marie Region Conservation Authority, says they’re awaiting further information about how the province’s amalgamation plan would work. (Submitted by Corrina Barrett)Conservation SudburyMcCarthy’s announcement “came as a bit of a surprise” to Carl Jorgensen, general manager of Conservation Sudbury.“I’ve scratched my head. I was trying to figure out what efficiencies [would result] or what the goal is here,” Jorgensen said.Jorgensen said conservation authorities are “pretty efficient” in their current configuration, pointing to the turnaround time on housing permits as an example.“We have targets that were set and some voluntary targets and some other targets that we aim for, like bars … the province set a bar years ago. We meet or beat that bar 91 per cent of the time on our permit turnaround,” he said.“On average, the amount of time that a permit sits in the conservation authority’s control, meaning our staff are actually reviewing, doing their work on the permit, it’s 12 and a half days across the province.”Jorgensen said while the bar is at 30 days, they’re “sitting at around 15 days” at Conservation Sudbury.“We’re already pretty efficient — we already have service delivery standards that we’re meeting,” Jorgensen said.Carl Jorgensen, general manager of Conservation Sudbury, says conservation authorities are ‘pretty efficient’ in their current configuration (Submitted by Carl Jorgensen)Meanwhile, Jorgensen said, the province can make the boundaries as big as it wants, but there still needs to be a local presence.“[You need to] have field staff, be able to go out and do the work. What we do is technical work, it’s scientific work. It needs our boots to be on the ground to do that kind of work. It’s not something you can do remotely.“There’s still a lot of caretaking that needs to happen. I don’t think we’re going anywhere.”Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA)A TRCA spokesperson said it will review details of the province’s proposal as they become available and will participate fully in consultations. “We stand ready to share best practices, co-ordinate expert resources, and provide science-based input that improves service delivery while safeguarding public safety,” Afiya Jilani wrote in an email to CBC. “TRCA remains focused on protecting people, property and infrastructure while advancing watershed health, and we look forward to working with the province, municipalities, Indigenous communities, conservation authorities, and Conservation Ontario during the consultation period.”TRCA’s jurisdiction includes nine watersheds and their Lake Ontario shorelines:Carruthers Creek.Don River.Duffins Creek.Etobicoke Creek.Highland Creek.Humber River.Mimico Creek.Petticoat Creek.Rouge River.Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA)UTRCA general manager Tracy Annett wants steps taken to ensure that grassroots localized knowledge isn’t lost in the process of consolidation.“It really comes to how this overarching agency has a governance structure to ensure that there are those local voices still heard,” Annett said.WATCH | Can Toronto infrastructure handle another major downpour?:Can Toronto infrastructure handle another major downpour? | Canada TonightAlmost exactly 11 years ago on July 8, 2013, Toronto saw more than a month’s worth of rainfall in just hours — a similar stat as Tuesday’s event. David Kellershohn, the associate director of engineering services at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, talks about infrastructure and emergency management changes since 2013.She noted that conservation authorities have worked to strive and look for efficiencies to reduce duplications where possible.“We’re working to establish our own service standards as well and have that shared technology, but it really comes back to how the new governance structure is organized,” Annett said.“Currently, we have our board of directors that are appointed by our municipalities that are the voices around our decision-making tables. And with those local input, we’re able to guide how we are delivering on our programs and services. So, depending on how these consolidations go, how are those voices still going to be heard? ‘As long as there’s still mechanisms in place to ensure that happens, I think it really is tied to that governance structure.”
Conservation authorities contemplate future after Ontario announces changes
