The mayor of Ingersoll, Ont., has resigned from the committee overseeing the merger of conservation authorities in southwestern Ontario, saying the process lacks the transparency and accountability the province promised. Brian Petrie, chair of the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA), quit the Western Lake Erie Regional Conservation Authority Transition Committee on Wednesday, effective immediately. In a resignation letter shared online, Petrie said the process “lacks the openness required to justify my continued participation or to maintain public trust.” Petrie told CTV News London he received the committee’s terms of reference, and a sweeping confidentiality agreement, only the Friday before a Monday meeting. He said the requirement was not part of the original appointment process. “Had it been, I would not have put my name forward,” Petrie said. He said the board tried to negotiate changes with the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency, but the revised agreement was not enough. “One of the reasons this amalgamation is taking place is better transparency and accountability,” Petrie said. “So to have a process, that has so much confidentiality put into it, is kind of a paradox.” Petrie said the original agreement would have made him and the UTRCA’s general manager personally liable if the province considered confidentiality broken, and that the province “didn’t have to prove it.” The UTRCA board later passed a motion to cover appointed members under its insurance, which allowed the general manager to join the committee. Petrie said he would have agreed to confidentiality on sensitive matters such as legal or personnel issues. He said the terms went further than that. “They couldn’t give a good answer, as far as I was concerned, about why everything needed to be controlled at that level,” he said. Petrie said conservation authorities have long been municipally driven, and that the province has said they will remain locally governed and funded. “One of those things is true. They’ll be municipally funded,” he said. He said the new authorities will answer to a provincial agency, and that municipalities will continue to pay the bill. In his letter, he said the closed-door committee “entirely excludes member municipalities from meaningful involvement.” Petrie said upper-tier municipalities will appoint board members, and that the rules for who can be appointed have not been released. He said earlier rules required at least 70 per cent of members to be elected officials, and that this may change. “Part of municipal government is open and transparent government,” he said. Petrie said a motion has been passed to put his replacement on the board’s agenda next month. If the board doesn’t appoint someone, he said, the province can. Three weeks ago, Petrie told CTV News he was uncomfortable with directions that committee members sign non-disclosure agreements. The UTRCA is set to merge with three other conservation authorities to form the Western Lake Erie Regional Conservation Authority. The consolidation is expected in early 2027. Petrie stays on as chair of the UTRCA. He is also seeking re-election as mayor of Ingersoll in the Oct. 26 municipal election. “There needs to be a better balance between the voices at the municipal level and the province’s wishes,” Petrie said. “We need to work together better. And right now, that doesn’t seem to be happening. And really, I think it’s our residents who are going to pay the price for that.” CTV News reached has reached out to the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks and the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency for comment.
