Thunder Bay delegates fight Ford on environmental consolidation

Thunder Bay city officials are opposing Premier Doug Ford’s plan for environmental consolidation at the Rural Ontario Municipalities Association (ROMA) conference in Toronto.

In November, Ford proposed a plan to merge 36 separate environmental conservation authorities into just 7. Thunder Bay’s Lakehead Region Conservation Authority would be absorbed by a governing body in the Barrie area, over 1,500 km away.

“It’s important for us to remain a separate entity just from our distance,” LRCA Chief Administrative Officer Tammy Cook said. “We are geographically different and geographically isolated from any other authority.”

City council voted unanimously to reject the merger in December.

“We have eight member municipalities, and some of them are at ROMA this week bringing forward our request to remain a single entity,” Cook said.

“We have local staff that are very invested in protecting the lake and watershed. They live here and understand our geography. That could be lost if we’re based out of somewhere in southern Ontario.”

Many local residents sent letters in support of LRCA. Those letters, along with resolutions from member municipalities and ROMA itself, are being reviewed by provincial leaders.

“We’re providing services that require people in northwestern Ontario, not based out of southern Ontario,” Cook said. “You need that local knowledge, local expertise to be able to manage the watershed here.”

NOMA wraps up on Tuesday.