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March 30, 2022

Despite the MEA’s two previous requests to the Minister’s office (July 22, 2021 & January 21, 2022) to expedite the approval the MEA’s Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (MCEA) amendment, the MEA currently cannot support the proposed amendment that the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) has prepared.  On March 23, 2022, MEA issued a letter to the Minister requesting he postpone approval of the amendment and direct MECP staff to make this a priority and continue working with the MEA to fully resolve the outstanding amendment issues with a target completion date prior to the end of 2022.  To view the letter to the Minister, CLICK HERE.

Since 2019, MEA has worked diligently to prepare an amendment to the MCEA.  We have consulted with many stakeholders throughout this process.  MEA submitted its original amendment in September 2019.  After a year and a half of public consultation and MECP review, in May 2021, MEA submitted, what we understood to be, the final amendment version to MECP so their staff could undertake a final review that included addressing Indigenous issues and ensuring AODA compliance. 

Between May of 2021 and December 2021, MECP dealt with Indigenous issues and MEA anxiously awaited MECP’s final comments on our May submission.   MEA started to hear back from MECP beginning in around mid-January of 2022.  In mid-March, MECP staff provided MEA with their version of the amendment which they intended to present to the Minister for approval.  The version provided by MECP differed significantly from what MEA submitted in May of 2021 and was unsatisfactory to the MEA.

The MEA will continue to work diligently with MECP over the coming weeks and months to get this right.