Councillor Ron Faulkner believes conservation authorities do important work and he wants the province to increase funding to them.
Faulkner made the comments at the April 1 Minto council meeting, at which minutes from two recent Maitland Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) meetings were presented. Faulker said he is “impressed with the direction that Maitland Valley is going with the limited resources that they have.
“What concerns me is that rivers, streams, water quality, flood control, all these things … I’m concerned it’s not getting the same level of credibility at the provincial and federal levels that it should be getting.
“Maitland Valley Conservation should be better funded by the province. And I realize they have the same fiscal issues that everybody does, but this is something we can’t turn our back on. Where’s the direction this is heading and what can we do about it?” Faulkner asked.
Deputy mayor Terry Fisk, who represents the town on both Maitland Valley and Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority boards, replied, “I think the upper levels of government find it’s very easy for them to cut in this area because they don’t feel it’s affecting too many people, and it’s the future and there’s no faces to show that we’re doing this much good and we’re improving everybody’s lifestyle.”
Fisk said MVCA general manager/secretary-treasurer Phil Beard reminds directors “at almost every meeting” that funding from the provincial government is at 1995 levels.
“And we all know what’s gone on since 1995, just in terms of inflation,” he added.
“It’s serious,” said Fisk. “If we don’t start doing something about climate change and these extreme weather situations we’re in big trouble and they’re not going to go away. So we need to plan for them and we need to do what we can with respect to the environment and the rivers and the streams.”
Fisk said Minto, as a municipality, is “trying to take a bit of a lead in that area” through programs such as Trees for Minto Farms and a recent decision to implement a one-cent-per-litre transfer from town fuel budgets and a voluntary donation of one cent per kilometre from staff and council mileage to tree planting.
“It’s being noticed what this town is doing with respect to this,” said Fisk, pointing out other municipalities have asked for information on the fuel transfer initiative.
“If it’s not going to happen at the top, then hopefully it can happen from the bottom and it builds from there,” the deputy mayor suggested.
While recognizing efforts are being made at the local level, Faulkner said, “That’s not the area I’m concerned about. I’m concerned that the province is not listening.”
Mayor George Bridge suggested the town put the issue on the agenda for a delegation at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario convention.
