CAMBRIDGE – Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) officials expressed disappointment after the provincial government passed legislation that makes substantial changes to the Conservation Authorities Act and the Planning Act.
A number of revisions, amendments and additions made were made to Bill 229: Protect, Support and Recover from COVID-19 Act (Budget Measures), which included Schedule 6, before the legislation received Royal Assent Dec. 8.
But the GRCA says not all of the its issues were addressed.
“While the government took into consideration some of our feedback by making revisions to sections in Schedule 6 involving board governance and the ability for conservation authorities to issue stop orders, unfortunately, these changes don’t completely address our concerns,” stated GRCA chair Helen Jowett in press release.
Many amendments made to the Conservation Authorities Act through Schedule 6 remain unchanged, such as those that “remove and/or significantly hinder” the conservation authorities’ role in regulating development, the authority notes.
“The Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry will have the ability to make decisions on permit appeals and issue permits without watershed data and expertise from the conservation authorities,” GRCA officials point out.
The Minister of Environment Conservation and Parks has stated that while changes have been made, appeals will be limited and the minister will still have to follow the same rules the conservation authorities would.
“[They] won’t be able to step outside of the science, etcetera, that is needed in order to render that decision and it will be rarely used, if at all,” Yurek told the CBC on Dec. 2.
The GRCA notes a new section was added to Schedule 6 during the committee stage, which will require a conservation authority to issue a permit when the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing issues a Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO).
In addition, conservation authorities as land owners will not be able to appeal most planning decisions that affect their lands, even though conservation authorities are the second largest landowners in Ontario.
“The GRCA has a long history of working collaboratively with its watershed municipalities, the farming community, developers and its many stakeholders to ensure that the need for development and growth is balanced with the need to protect Ontario’s environment, and ensure people and property are safe from natural hazards like flooding,” explained Jowett.
“We have always supported the government’s stated objectives to modernize the Conservation Authorities Act, enhance transparency and accountability, and have been working with them to share our technical expertise and feedback.
“It’s disappointing that the changes to the Conservation Authorities Act, passed through Schedule 6 in Bill 229, go well beyond their stated objectives.”
Most of the amendments will be implemented through new or amended regulations, legal instruments or policies.
It is anticipated that the first phase of regulations will be announced in the coming weeks.
Numerous municipalities, including the Town of Minto, had expressed support for the position of local conservation authorities on Schedule 6 and passed resolutions echoing their concerns.
“This schedule has nothing to do with the proposed budget bill,” stated Maitland Valley Conservation Authority chair and Minto deputy Mayor Dave Turton in a letter discussed at the Dec. 1 Minto council meeting.
Jowett said the GRCA appreciates “the support expressed by watershed municipalities and residents.”
She added the GRCA “continues to offer its assistance and technical expertise to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry on any working groups or technical committees established to review future changes to the regulations, policies or provincial standards related to the implementation of the Conservation Authorities Act.
“We hope that they will work with us to ensure that the new regulations serve the best interests of the residents of the Grand River watershed and all Ontarians.”
Conservation Ontario, in a Dec. 8 statement, said the province “missed a chance to show they are listening to Ontarians who care about their environment” by passing the legislation with Schedule 6 included.
“The budget bill is all about financial recovery from pandemic conditions and this could have easily been accomplished in ways that didn’t sacrifice Ontario’s environment and our unique watershed approach” stated Kim Gavine, general manager of Conservation Ontario, which represents conservation authorities in the province.
“A more proactive approach may have been to use this bill to support the development of a stream of new, greener economic activities that would boost the economy and help to build environmental resilience, not break it down,” Gavine suggested.
She said conservation authorities had hoped that the province “would respond to calls from conservation authorities, municipalities, environmental agencies, agricultural agencies, Indigenous organizations and thousands of individual Ontarians” and withdraw Schedule 6 from the Budget Bill.
“Our challenge, now, will be to operationalize the province’s amendments, which we’re quite certain will create additional delays and costs for municipalities, applicants and conservation authorities, themselves,” Gavine points out.
“Using an overburdened tribunal system (Local Planning Appeal Tribunal), allowing applicants to appeal CA decisions directly to the minister and – ensuring compliance around the minister’s permits will be some of what creates those delays and costs.”
Gavine said the amendments diminish the roles and responsibilities of conservation authorities and of Ontario’s much lauded science-based watershed approach and this was evident to the people who contacted the province over the past few weeks to complain.
“It was really fantastic to see the wide range of people and agencies who understood the importance of what was happening,” Gavine says.
“They immediately picked up on both the short- and long-term impacts of these changes and were very direct in their messages to the province. It’s unfortunate that it wasn’t enough.”
Prior to the passage of the legislation, seven members of Ontario’s Greenbelt Council, including chair David Crombie, resigned in protest on Dec. 6.
Gavine indicated local authorities and Conservation Ontario now have to direct their attention to the regulations that provide the details around the changes to the Conservation Authorities Act and said she hopes they will get the attention, assessment and public input that they deserve.
