WITH RESPECT to the Memorandum from Councillor Trevor Giertuga, Chair – Inter-Governmental Affairs Committee, dated November 24, 2025, we recommend that City Council calls on the Government of Ontario to maintain local, independent, municipally governed, watershed-based conservation authorities to ensure strong local representation in decisions related to municipal levies, community-focused service delivery, and the protection and management of conservation lands;
AND THAT while City Council supports provincial goals for consistent permit approval processes, shared services, and digital modernization, imposing a new top-down agency structure without strong local accountability and governance risks creating unnecessary cost, red tape, and bureaucracy, thereby undermining efficiency and responsiveness to local community needs;
AND THAT City Council supports efforts to balance expertise, capacity, and program delivery across the province, and requests that the Province work collaboratively with municipalities and local conservation authorities to determine the most effective level of strategic consolidation to achieve both provincial and local objectives;
AND THAT City Council is opposed to the proposed “Huron-Superior Regional Conservation Authority” boundary configuration outlined in Environmental Registry Notice 025-1257;
AND THAT City Council recommends that the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority form the “Northwestern Ontario Regional Conservation Authority”;
AND THAT the Ministry engage directly with affected municipalities of the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority, before finalizing any consolidation boundaries or legislative amendments;
AND THAT careful consideration be given to the financial ownership of reserve funds that have been collected by the LRCA over many years, through municipal funding;
AND THAT a copy of this resolution be forwarded to:
• The Environmental Registry of Ontario consultations prior to the deadline of December 22, 2025,
• The Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks and the Opposition critics,
• Local Members of Provincial Parliament,
• Local Members of Parliament,
• The Association of Municipalities of Ontario,
• Conservation Ontario,
• All local municipalities within the LRCA Area of Jurisdiction, and
• All Conservation Authorities in Ontario;
AND THAT any necessary by-laws be presented to City Council for ratification.