Conservationists, cottagers and nature groups continue to push back against a Conservative proposal to dramatically downsize the number of conservation authorities across the province, controversial move of which the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority (LRCA) managed to avoid being a part.
Earlier this month, the province confirmed it is moving ahead with its plan to reduce the number of conservation authorities to nine from 36, by implementing a number of mergers, mostly in southern Ontario.
On Wednesday, a coalition of opposing groups, including Nature Ontario, said the government has yet to make a logical case for the plan.
“The province has failed to explain why this consolidation is necessary,” coalition member Janet Stavinga, a former Ottawa city councillor and vice-chair of the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, said in a news release.
“Instead,” Stavinga said “their desire to push forward with such a drastic consolidation will create more uncertainty and increase risks for our communities. This needs to go back to the drawing board.”
The Lakehead Region Conservation Authority announced this month it is exempt from the merger plan and will remain independent under a new name — the Northwestern Ontario Regional Conservation Authority.
“We anticipate continuing to do the important work we have been carrying out for 70 years,” LRCA chair Donna Blunt said in an earlier news release.
Last fall, the Conservative government said it wanted to downsize the number of conservation authorities because it said there was too much bureaucratic overlap when developers were proposing projects.
“This has created uncertainty and delays for builders, landowners and farmers, and has made it more challenging for conservation authorities to carry out their role in protecting communities from floods and natural hazards,” the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks said.
Not all farmers are on board with the government.
The proposed merger of conservation authorities “threatens the livelihoods and conservation efforts of farmers and Ontarians as a whole,” Ontario National Farmers Union branch president Josh Suppan said in the coalition’s news release.
“We oppose legislative and regulatory changes that erode protections for farmland and natural heritage lands, and that diminish transparent, democratic decision-making,” Suppan added.
In addition to managing flood risks and monitoring local plant and wildlife, conservation authorities assess development projects for potential environment impacts.
“Conservation authorities were created to make better land use decisions,” Ontario Nature conservation policy director Tony Morris said. “We need to empower them to do their work independently as our watershed experts.”
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Mar 27, 2026 at 10:00
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