Recently the Ontario Government raised legislation which would, if passed, significantly reduce the power that Conservation Authorities have to manage their respective watersheds. Currently, our Conservation Authorities have the power to manage their watersheds with mandates to protect the water quality, environment, wetlands, and the communities in the watershed from flooding and severe infrastructure damage.
This legislation, known as Bill 229 and in particular Schedule 6, would allow a complete bypass of the Conservation Authorities by allowing developers to apply directly to the Minister for a development permit without any of the necessary assessments or mitigations.

The SDRA has been active in opposing this legislation, on behalf of our members, and has written a formal letter to our MPP and various ministers asking for Schedule 6 to be removed from the Bill. You can see a copy of the letter on our website. https://www.skootamatta.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SDRA-Comments-on-Bill-229.pdf

If you want more information on the importance of Conservation Authorities and the proposed changes in this legislation, the following link is to an hour-long webinar with a lot more information. https://cela.ca/we-need-our-conservation-authorities-webinar/

How can you help?? You need to act quickly!! Take a stand now and oppose the changes to the Conservation Authorities Act. The sites in the links below have excellent tools to help you let your MPP know that you are opposed to these changes.

Make a phone call! environmentaldefence.ca/saveCAs
Send an email! ontarionature.good.do/conservationauthorities

Make sure our properties are protected against the adverse effects of development!
It only takes a few minutes.

Your SDRA Board