Funds to fight natural hazards like floods cut by the province

The North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority says it’s deferring some programs and cancelling others later in the year as a result of a $125,000 cut in its natural hazard transfer payment from the Ontario government.
Board chair Chris Mayne says they do their budget in March and that’s before they found the impact from the provincial budget.

“We’re kind of playing catchup to find those savings within this year’s budget. The hope of the board is that we will not have to go back to the municipalities and increase our levy halfway through the year. I’m reasonably comfortable that will be done,” he says.

Mayne says the natural hazard transfer payment covers initiatives like flood control, flood forecasting, erosion control and watershed planning.

Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli says while he couldn’t comment on this particular story as Finance Minister the government is encouraging all of its agency’s, boards and commissions to find efficiencies as it has done.

“With the conservation authority we’re asking only one and a half pennies on every dollar for them to find efficiencies. If we’ve shown them how to do it we expect the same from all of our agencies, boards and commissions,” Fedeli says.

He says the government is finding 4 cents per dollar on efficiencies to reduce the deficit and still support health care and education.

(File photo by station staff)