NPCA enforcement efforts flagged in audit
Governance structure a major concern for agency, Auditor General’s report says
An auditor general’s report has found myriad problems with Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, none more so than with conservation enforcement and conflicts of interest.
The report released Thursday afternoon said the agency’s governance structure is one of the key contributors to problems at the agency. Since the majority of board members are regional councillors, in some cases mayors, municipal priorities conflict with conservation authority interests.
The municipalities are the main source of funding for conservation authorities, the report said, and that presents added challenges for board members — especially when it comes to economic development.
In 2017, a municipality contacted its board member when NPCA moved to nix a planning amendment necessary for a development on a floodplain. It wasn’t permissible under provincial regulations.
The board member contacted the agency’s chief administrative officer, the report said. Meeting notes attached to the file indicate the CAO told the board member that NPCA would not appeal if it went ahead with the plan, and that’s exactly what happened.
The report also found significant problems with environmental enforcement.
The auditor general noted that enforcement action on complaints is an essential function of the authority because it ensures no further damage occurs. The agency is also handcuffed in taking legal action against the violator if it has been two years or longer since the first report.
A review of public complaints between 2013 and 2017 found one-quarter still open, meaning that the violation had not been dealt with and the damage or alteration to
the environment had not been fixed. Some dated as far back as 2014.
In 2017, the Natural Resources Ministry sent NPCA aerial photographs showing a wetland had been destroyed. However, agency staff did not visit the site or follow up on the violation.
NPCA said it would do so once a permanent enforcement officer was hired, which had not occurred as late as August 2018.
The agency also lacked an enforcement officer between September 2016 and April 2017, and again between November 2017 and April 2018.
In April 2018, NPCA reassigned one of its restoration staff. However, the staffer had no prior enforcement training or experience.