Time for a chair change at HCA

The Hamilton Conservation Authority is holding its annual meeting Feb. 3 and will be selecting a new chair from its current roster of board members. The councillor for Ancaster, Lloyd Ferguson, is currently the chair and he could be again, despite there being ample evidence that conservation is the last thing in which the councillor is interested. It’s like putting the fox in the hen house given his position on several high profile conservation issues.

Under the changes brought in by the Ford government in its overhaul of Ontario conservation authorities, the tenure of the chair position was capped at two years. The HCA under Ferguson campaigned for an exception and for whatever reason got one, meaning Ferguson is eligible to run again. Much ado was made by conservationists over the number of people appointed to the conservation authorities that are connected to the development industry, and it’s clear that Ferguson is well connected to the development sector from a quick look at his campaign donor list and from his past employment at a senior level with a large construction firm.

Let’s review Coun. Ferguson’s “conservation” record. We don’t have to go far back, we’ll begin with Sewergate and his willingness to hide the massive contamination of Cootes Paradise from the people of Hamilton. Not only did he agree to hide it, he maintains it was the right decision, given the advice came from a lawyer. He has not apologized for his part in council’s duplicity and seems bemused that anyone would expect him to offer one. Someone with conservation and a love of nature at heart would be appalled by both the leak and the advice of the lawyer; they would want to undergo some kind of atonement.

The Spencer Creek overflow pipe was a project that Ferguson pushed and pushed at council, even against city staff advice. It’s like the Chedoke leak never happened and he learned absolutely nothing about how the people of Hamilton regard the treatment of their water.

Everyone I encountered who would speak about it was incredulous at his position. People sympathized with the homeowners, but felt the pipe represented a failure of the system to protect the natural environment and after four years of leaked raw sewage no one really wants to see that mess again.

Offsetting is the mistaken idea that you can accommodate development in protected areas by undertaking remediation in another locale. Currently the HCA has no offsetting policy, rightly believing that its mandate is conservation not accommodation. Under Ferguson’s tenure, the HCA has drafted an offsetting policy that will accommodate development and jobs over conservation and the watershed. For an entity established to oversee the conservation of nature, offsetting should be anathema.

The need for an offsetting policy was highlighted by the HCA decision to say no to a proposal by developers to move the Garner Road marsh, located at the headwater of Ancaster Creek, in order to build 1.3 million square feet of warehousing. In voting against the proposal, Coun. Brad Clark, a member of the HCA board, raised concerns regarding developer interests being prioritized while Ferguson argued the importance of jobs. Something is definitely wrong with this picture.

People who are concerned over the leadership of Ferguson as chair of the HCA have mobilized their energies toward protecting the watershed under the name of Save Our Streams — SOS (SaveOurStreamsHamilton.org). They have just gone public with a website full of information about the Garner Road marsh and its significance to the watershed. They are campaigning to save the wetland and to replace Ferguson as HCA chair.

This isn’t pro- or anti-development, it’s about conserving what little nature we have left around us. It’s about protecting the natural environment and the water that sustains us all.

Check out their website and sign up for information. And, please, take a minute to contact the HCA and demand better leadership.