GBA 2021 - Summer Update

16 www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Summer 2021 ED’S ADVOCACY REPORT By Rupert Kindersley, Executive Director Here are updates on other important current issues. COVID-19 Response The dramatic third wave and COVID-19 variants have unsurprisingly made it challenging to get the government to address the issue of access for our American and international friends and neighbours to their properties this summer. Nevertheless, we will follow up to pursue our request for an exemption to enable them to visit when it is safe to do so. See: bit.ly/3fcc91y . Meanwhile, we are regularly providing information here: bit. ly/33wNsaL on access through the coastal First Nations communities and rules for marinas. Since the rules are constantly changing, please check the above link for the latest news, and make sure you contact your marina well in advance of heading to your cottage. Seasonal Hydro Rate As expected, the Ontario Energy Board finalized its decision to cancel this rate category. GBA has asked for a delayed implementation date and the longest phase-in period possible. We are now waiting for those implementation decisions. See: bit.ly/3hm1VhE . Water Levels Over the last few months, Georgian Bay Forever (GBF) and GBA made joint deputations to most of your coastal municipalities to inform them about the latest information on water levels issues based on the results of last fall’s water levels symposium. We also raised issues we believe the municipalities should consider, such as changing the high- water-level mark in their planning regulations. We expect Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC) important report forecasting water levels over the next 80 years will be released shortly. Even with the inherent uncertainty of long-term predictions of this kind, this report will be important in informing the action plan that arose from the symposium (see pages 35-36 of the synopsis at: bit.ly/3f8Kwqa ). Our primary long-term focus remains persuading governments to make major investments in the right tools to address extreme high and low water levels, where such tools are practical and economically viable. Environmental Protections and Planning GBA has been working with other NGOs to respond to the Ontario government’s weakening of environmental protections, since they will likely have a negative impact on the Bay in the long run. For a summary of those actions, see: bit.ly/39uKxDh . On a positive note, the federal government S ince the last UPDATE issue, GBA held its Annual General Meeting via Zoom. All our full member associations were well represented. Each GBA committee produced a presentation that included a summary of their advocacy work and other actions taken over the past year, plus plans and strategies for the coming year. I encourage you to view the full presentation at: bit.ly/2R2ZFkU , as it provides a very good overview of what GBA has done and is doing for you. Source: Shannon Farquharson