Tacked on to the recent Government of Ontario omnibus Budget Bill 229 is Schedule 6, a proposal for significant changes to the Conservation Authorities Act. Schedule 6 has set off alarm bells amongst Conservation Authorities and our partners across the province.

The proposed changes will severely curtail the role of Conservation Authorities in watershed planning and management. This will negatively impact our efforts to build watershed resiliency and deliver stewardship, monitoring and flood and erosion safety services to our member municipalities and watershed residents.

David Turton, Maitland Conservation Chair, has submitted a letter to Premier Doug Ford outlining these concerns in detail. This letter is posted here:

Letter to Premier Doug Ford

Conservation Ontario has issued media releases about the proposed changes. This information can be viewed on the Conservation Ontario website at:

Province Tying Conservation Authorities Up in Red Tape – Repeal Schedule 6

Changes to Conservation Authorities Act Trigger Red Flags for Conservation Ontario

We would also encourage watershed residents to take a moment to read the material developed by Ontario Nature and the Canadian Environmental Law Association and sign their petition. You can find it here:

Ontario Nature Petition

Please also consider emailing your concerns to:

• Minister Philips, Minister of Finance, minister.fin@ontario.ca,
• Minister Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, minister.mah@ontario.ca
• Minister Yakabuski, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, minister.mnrf@ontario.ca
• Minister Yurek, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, minister.mecp@ontario.ca
• Your local MPP

For more information on the impact of Schedule 6 on local conservation initiatives please contact:

Phil Beard, General Manager-Secretary Treasurer
pbeard@mvca.on.ca
519-335-3557 ext. 231

or

David Turton, MVCA Chair
dpturton@wightman.ca

or your Maitland Conservation member:

• Anita van Hittersum – Township of North Huron, avanhittersum@northhuron.ca
• David Turton, Chair – Township of Mapleton, Town of Minto, Township of Wellington North, dpturton@wightman.ca
• Erinn Lawrie, – Town of Goderich, erinn.lawrie@lakehuron.ca
• Alvin McLellan – Municipality of Huron East, amclellan@huroneast.com
• Cheryl Matheson – Township of Perth East and Municipality of West Perth, cmatheson@westperth.com
• Matt Duncan, First Vice Chair – Municipality of North Perth, mattduncan@northperth.ca
• Ed McGugan – Township of Huron-Kinloss and Municipality of South Bruce, edmmcgugan@gmail.com
• Kevin Freiburger – Municipality of Morris-Turnberry, kfreiburger@morristurnberry.ca
• Alison Lobb – Municipality of Central Huron, alison.lobb@tcc.on.ca
• Megan Gibson – Township of Howick, mgibson@howick.ca
• Roger Watt, Second Vice Chair – Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, rwwatt@hurontel.on.ca