Chatham-Kent council is voicing its opposition to the province’s conservation authority overhaul under Bill 68.
Council voted unanimously Monday night to tell the Government of Ontario that it wants to maintain local, independent, municipally governed, watershed-based conservation authorities.
The Ontario government introduced Bill 68, the Plan to Protect Ontario Act, on November 27, 2025. The bill makes significant changes to several provincial legislative frameworks, including merging Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities into seven regional bodies overseen by a new provincial agency controlled by Queen’s Park.
In a presentation to council, Mark Peacock, Chief Administrative Officer of the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority (LTVCA), explained the authority’s concerns with the new bill, including reduced representation for local municipalities on the new board.
“Local municipalities will lose their say on how their money is spent. That is a pretty huge issue,” said Peacock.
“We now tailor programs to our local areas. How will that happen in a regional conservation authority?”
Under the new bill, Chatham-Kent would belong to the Lake Erie Regional CA alongside 81 other municipalities. The LTVCA and the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority (SCRCA) currently serve 27 municipalities with a combined population of 245,500. The proposed amalgamation would increase that number to over two million.
“Right now we have 100,000 people we provide support to. We provide it locally. It’s our staff that are out there planting trees. We go to people’s sites if they have a concern. It’s me they talk to, and we deal with things locally on a one-to-one basis with people,” said Peacock.
Peacock suggested developing programs to modernize the current conservation authorities, an idea that Councillor Ryan Doyle supported.
“I agree that we shouldn’t go down that road,” said Doyle. “I think the way it is is just fine, or like you said, a little modification is okay, but not what they’re suggesting.”
A copy of council’s resolution will be sent to the Ontario Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks, as well as local MPs and MPPs, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the Rural Ontario Municipal Association, and other municipalities and conservation authorities in Ontario.
