Like the province, some members of Puslinch council are interested in seeing improvements to Ontario’s Conservation Authorities Act.
On Aug. 12 council reviewed the notification issued by the Environmental Registry of a coming review of the act.
Mayor Dennis Lever said “based on council’s dealing with the fill application on County Road 36, we too are looking for improvements to the Conservation Act as well as some enhanced funding arrangements other than just municipalities to fund conservation authorities.”
The move is part of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s (MNRF) commitment to initiate a review of the document that will include addressing roles, responsibilities and governance of conservation authorities in resource management and environmental protection.
A discussion paper was posted to the Environmental Registry to solicit feedback from other ministries, municipalities and stakeholders on the programs and services delivered by conservation authorities on behalf of the province and member municipalities.
The discussion paper can be viewed by going to the following link and searching for registry number 012-4509 (http://www.ebr.gov.on.ca/ERS-WEB-External). The discussion paper will be posted for 90 days.
The deadline for submitting comments is Oct. 19.
While feedback on opportunities to enhance any aspect of the existing legislative and regulatory framework is welcome, the focus of the discussion paper is on the three overarching areas of:
1. Governance – the processes, structures and accountability frameworks within the act which direct conservation authority decision making and operations;
2. Funding mechanisms – the mechanisms put in place by the act to fund conservation authorities; and
3. Roles and responsibilities – the roles and associated responsibilities that the act enables conservation authorities to undertake.
The notification states “municipal input in the review process is critical.”
A number of municipal listening sessions are currently being planned to provide municipal sector representatives with an opportunity to review and provide responses to the questions.
Puslinch councillor Ken Roth said he would be interested in attending the upcoming meeting in September.
Lever, who said he was interested in attending the session in Newmarket, asked staff to investigate whether dates for the meetings have been set.
