North Perth Council will be joining other municipal governments across the province in giving feedback to the provincial government regarding local conservation authorities.
CAO Kris Snell said North Perth will be providing their thoughts on programs and services that the local conservation authorities provide and are in charge of, with the province outlying three main services they believe are most important.
"Flood and risk management, source water protection and the management of conservation lands. Our municipality is saying that stewardship programs that deal directly with those services also need to be a core service," said Snell.
Snell added on top of some core services the province has highlighted with regards to conservation authorities, North Perth would like to ensure that legacy flood infrastructure is made a priority.
"There needs to be some commitment on behalf of the provincial and federal government to protect that infrastructure. For example, the North Perth conduit here in Listowel. As well, regarding source water protection, we're looking for the province to maintain the funds for those programs," added Snell.
When it comes to source water protection, in particular, Snell said North Perth and all municipal governments want to ensure that the funding for legislating source water protection continues to be and remains a provincial responsibility, and not something downloaded to municipalities.
Last year the province changed how funding for flood mapping services worked, basically leaving it up to the conservation authorities themselves to bear the brunt of that cost.
