NPCA interim CAO suggests board makeup contrary to law
Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority’s newly appointed interim CAO threw more fog around the composition of the agency’s next board of directors in a letter insisting provincial legislation be strictly followed, but lays out a board membership that doesn’t adhere to that legislation.
In an email to Niagara’s regional council this weekend and posted on NPCA’s website, Lisa McManus said Niagara cannot replace the current 12 members of the board with a new group of 12 because the Conservation Authorities Act only allows Niagara Region to appoint five people.
Her email, citing a letter last week from the assistant deputy minister of the environment Bruce Bateman, refers to Section 2 of the act, which sets the number of board representatives against the city or a municipality’s population.
“Based on Section 2(2), indicates five members from Niagara, four from Hamilton, and two from Haldimand,” McManus wrote.
However, Bateman’s letter does not spell out NPCA board composition. Moreover, if Section 2 of the act was strictly followed, Hamilton would receive six rather than four members on the board.
The act says a municipality with a population between 250,000 and 500,00 would receive four members, and one with 500,000 to a million would receive six.
Niagara Region has a population of about 450,000 while Hamilton’s is greater than 530,000.
It is not clear why McManus says Hamilton would receive four members. She did not respond to interview requests Monday.
NPCA spokesman Michael Reles said in an email that McManus is on bereavement leave.
Reles could not say if the previous board of directors — led by former Fort Erie regional councillor Sandy Annunziata — were continuing to govern NPCA. Former board member and ex-St. Catharines regional councillor Bruce Timms told The Standard he wasn’t sure if he would relinquish his seat.
On Dec. 6, Niagara representatives on the NPCA board were replaced by the newly sworn-in regional council. Under the act, the appointing municipality can replace a board member at any time.
The absence of Niagara members leaves only the three representatives from Hamilton and Haldimand, which isn’t enough to hold a meeting or make decisions.
The composition of the next NPCA board was thrown into question when Annunziata and NPCA’s lawyer insisted the next board be chosen using a process found in a 1994 provincial government directive. In a letter to Niagara Region, Annunziata said he and the board would not stand down until a new board is chosen using that method.
However, the 1994 order, which gave Niagara 12 board members, has never been used and was rendered defunct in 1998.
Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger said Monday only a small segment of the City of Hamilton is within NPCA jurisdiction — mostly the area of Binbrook, which has a population of about 10,000 people, which would translate to two board members.
Eisenberger said that is a reasonable number of Hamilton members on the NPCA board. However, he said the city has been fighting NPCA’s tax levy for several years based on what he said is an unfair funding formula.
Hamilton pays $1.5 million to NPCA — a figure set against the city’s entire population, rather than the $500,000 it used to pay. Hamilton is currently challenging that fee in the courts.
Eisenberger said Hamilton would be willing to have fewer members on the board if the funding formula was fair.
“If not, then yes, we want five or six members to have a say over the million and a half dollars we are paying,” he said.