GBA Flipping Book - Spring 2020

14 ≥ www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Spring 2020 Taking Stock of a Challenging Year By John Carson, GBA President PRESIDENT’S REPORT I n this report I’ve summarized GBA’s most important actions over the past year. Readers of Rupert Kindersley’s ED Advocacy Report (that appears in each issue of UPDATE ) know that GBA has had a lot on its plate during 2019. It’s been difficult to keep up with all the needs and demands as new issues that affect our members seem to keep on coming.  The provincial government’s agenda for change presented many challenges and continues to do so on critical fronts, most notably on environmental protection in a range of areas. GBA took action on issues like the review of Ontario’s Endangered Species Act , the 10-year review of the Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health , and other legislation that reduced environmental protections in favour of industry and development. We also opposed proposals that would expand open-net aquaculture operations in the Great Lakes while at the same time loosening the licensing regime for fish farms and requiring lighter forms of environmental assessments. GBA also made several significant submissions to the Canadian government on proposed new federal laws and regulations governing that industry, including the new Fisheries Act and the proposed Aquaculture Act . In addition, the province’s review of many regional municipalities presented difficult issues for GBA to address that consumed a lot of time last year. The government’s decision not to impose changes on municipalities removed a major concern from GBA’s agenda. Proposals for changes in municipalities’ structures could have been a threat or an opportunity for the structure of local governments in the coastal Georgian Bay region, but either way change is off the table – at least for now. Nevertheless, the issues that underlay the debate about which forms of local government will best serve our members and the protection of GBA’s environment have not gone away. In fact, that debate has sharpened GBA’s focus on key matters that must be addressed if we are to preserve the Bay’s unique character for future generations. GBA is now tackling those issues with renewed vigour – see my “Coastal Protection Initiative” article on page 5 in this issue. It addresses several important topics, including municipal planning structures, planning regulations and land use management, residential septic systems and waste management. High water is not only still with us, it appears that water levels will reach a crisis point this spring and summer. See the “Water Levels” article in this issue for more information. The bottom line is there is very little the authorities can do to manage water levels in the short term, and in the long run, persuading governments to make the massive investments that would be needed to implement effective control mechanisms will be challenging to say the least. Therefore, we all need to focus on practical actions to adapt to the changes and mitigate the impact of water levels. GBA continues to advocate for our members on issues that affect your interests, like the proposed elimination of the seasonal rate class for hydro customers. We are still pursuing public release of the province’s investigation report into the 2018 Henvey Inlet fire , which is now in an appeal process. There is an important public interest in understanding what happened and why, as well as assessments of the efforts to fight and control the fire. GBA weighed in on the Provincial Planning Policy Statement Review to urge the government to retain environmental protections for water resources, wetlands and natural areas. We have also taken firm positions on several local land use and planning issues where we believe decisions may set important precedents for development on Georgian Bay. These include the ongoing effort to limit a range of negative impacts of the proposed development of the Macey Bay project near Honey Harbour, the effort to construct a golf course at Manitou, and other inappropriate shoreline developments. I’ve outlined above key initiatives that GBA took in advocating for your interests and the future of Georgian Bay. It is not a complete list of all the submissions we made or discussions we held in advocating to governments at all levels. Nor does it cover improvements we made to member services last year, but a shout-out to GBA’s communications team is in order as it made great strides in enhancing our website, eUpdate and social media offerings, which in turn provided tips and information to members on important issues such as boating, safety and emergencies. Rest assured that GBA remains active on your behalf on all these fronts entering into 2020. Thank you very much for your continued support of GBA and engagement in these issues. We all share in the interests and values that make pursuing them so vital.