Citizens Turfed from Long Point Region Conservation Authority Meeting

We've received an email from a senior citizen saying that he and a younger resident were asked to leave the November 6th meeting at the LPRCA, just for being there.

Both residents were concerned with the neglect of Backus Mill and wanted to listen to the public meeting so they would know what was going on in the effort to get the Mill repaired.  They were allowed to listen in while the acceptance of the last meetings motions were being discussed.

As soon as new business was to be discussed the pair were asked to leave the meeting by Ms Betty Chanyi and then by Mr. Cliff Evaniski.

"I discovered this area because of that Mill and I'm mad as hell that they neglected it.  A friend asked me if I wanted to come down here to see the 1812 re-enactment a few years back and I liked the area.  A few years later when I retired I moved here.  Everything is changing for the worst.

I've never been kicked out of any thing before and I'm still in disbelief that they asked us to leave.  As a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces I'm appalled by this.  These are not the civil liberties that that I enlisted to protect.  What kind of operation is that anyway?  The public can't attend the public meeting?

They did go out of their way for some reason to explain to us why the revenue from the sale of Backus Woods could not be used to maintain the Mill.  NCC had stipulated that the proceeds from the sale would be held in an endowment to pay for repairs/improvements to the Education Center or Historical Land only."

 It's unfortunate that our Conversation Authority has become so secretive with it's dealings lately.  We fear that with no public input, our elected officials on the Board are not protecting the public's interest.  With the same councilors running the Board and also approving the LPRCA's levy there's no second thought as to where the funding comes from.  Should there be a budget shortfall they can simply threaten to sell another Woods to get the funding and, back over at City Hall, approve an increase in the municipal levy anyway.

The LPRCA has the same fiscal management skills as Norfolk County.  Spend, spend and spend some more.  Of course they will, it's the same people running both of the dog and pony shows.  With no pressure to stop spending the costs are climbing rapidly and the tax payers' get squeezed by both entities.

An interesting note here is the stipulations of the Backus Woods sale.  If The Nature Conservancy of Canada stipulated that the income from the sale could not be used to fund the Mill repairs, it would seem that it was discussed during the sale and that the LPRCA knew the Mill would require extensive repairs.  Keeping the endowment in an agreement that would not allow the known repairs to be carried out, the LPRCA would have access to the interest to spend at free will but still need to go to the public teat for the repair bills.

After being sent more detailed information on the LPRCA's spending habits it's easy to see how they mislead the public with their financial information.  The information that they produce for the public to see doesn't come very close to the actual figures by the time they are submitted to the Canada Revenue Agency.  Even though they sold almost 10% of their land holdings their expenses continue to climb.  Approximately 50% of the funding that is received by the LPRCA is sucked up by operating costs, salaries, vehicles, and my favourite, OTHER.

What they release to you is found here.  Of course, it won't be that easy to obtain their financials even though they say you can ask for them.  You 'can' ask for their financials, but without the Freedom Of Information request being submitted, you likely won't see them. 

For more information on their tax filings please go to http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/lstngs/menu-eng.html