A Vermilion River Otter, By Al Oman
ERO-026-0315 is the latest in a series of rapid, interconnected changes to Ontario’s planning framework. Since 2018, successive amendments to the Planning Act have progressively weakened environmental protections, reduced public participation requirements, and concentrated approval authority in the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.1 ERO-026-0315 continues this trajectory.
This erosion of planning oversight is compounded by the concurrent restructuring of Conservation Authorities. Ontario’s 36 watershed-based Conservation Authorities, each delineated according to the natural boundaries of local watershed systems, are being amalgamated into 9 regional bodies with vastly larger geographic territories.