Author: Mohsin Abbas

By: Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice

Sweeping changes that could see the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority merge with six other authorities is being proposed by the province.

If approved, the LTVCA will become part of the Lake Erie Region Conservation Authority, stretching all the way from the Grand River in Kitchener to Windsor and north to Lake Huron beyond Grand Bend.

However, that doesn’t change anything at the local level for the time being.

“It’s business as usual,” said LTVCA CEO Mark Peacock. “We are still providing services to our community and we will work with the government to ensure local delivery of services is continued.”

On Oct. 31, the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) announced a plan to create a provincial board-governed agency, called the Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency, with the goal of providing leadership, governance and strategic direction to conservation authorities.

In a media release, MECP Minister Todd McCarthy said the oversight body will address a “fragmented” system and cut red tape to spur the economy. A one-stop permitting process will also be introduced.

“The new, dedicated agency would work with conservation leaders to ensure faster, more transparent permitting and more front-line services so we can reduce delays to get shovels in the ground sooner, support economic growth and keep our communities safe from floods and other natural hazards,” McCarthy said.

How the mergers will roll out and how the new system will be financed remains to be seen.

Under the current funding model for conservation authorities, a significant portion of the money comes from municipalities.

“There’s a saying that those who pay should have a say,” Peacock explained. “Right now, municipal money goes toward improving the watershed in Chatham-Kent.”

The conservation authority legislation has yet to be introduced into the Ontario legislature and a consultation process must take place prior to any changes. 

Any changes to existing conservation authority boards will come into play after the municipal elections in 2026.

The ministry has said there will be no changes to service levels and no job losses.

The LTVCA was officially formed on Feb. 2, 1961.

By: Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter,  Chatham Voice

Making the documentary ‘Dresden 1957’ is a milestone for Eric Philpott.

Not only does it mark the lives of six Dutch immigrants who died in the deadly excavation cave-in, but it also honours his father Keith who, was a young site engineer heading up a job for the first time.

“I actually feel quite connected to both sides of this story,” the filmmaker told The Voice in a telephone interview from his Toronto home. “I feel very strongly that I can do something about it for my father.”

The documentary tells the largely forgotten story of a collapse that killed six men. Five families were affected, with one family, losing both a son and a father. The tragedy took place along the banks of the Sydenham River on Aug. 14, during the construction of a new pumping station, part of Dresden’s waterworks.

In the works since 2023, the film is now ready for post production, which will take another year. In order to complete the next phase, Philpott has launched a crowdfunding campaign with a goal of $60,000 to get the project over the finish line.

According to Philpott his interest was piqued when he learned about the disaster during a casual discussion with his mother. Later, he found his father’s diary, who at age 24, wrote about the cave-in and the following eight months of construction with the clarity of an engineer’s mind.

Extensive research by Philpott into the incident supports the facts laid out by his father, inspiring him to document one of Ontario’s worst workplace tragedies. 

His father, who was born in England and lived in London throughout the Second World War, married his mother, who was an immigrant from Holland. Because he is half Dutch and son of an immigrant, Philpott feels a kinship with the men who died in Dresden and their families.

“There were certain things about my father I didn’t understand, but after reading the diary and doing the research, I have a better understanding,” he said, adding he believes the incident marked his father for life.

Philpott said his father tried to warn the higher ups the excavation could give way, but no one listened and disaster struck only two weeks into the project.

He’s learned a lot from diving into a story and hopes the film will bring awareness to safety in the workplace in order to prevent similar tragedies from taking place.

“While the Dresden tragedy occurred sometime ago, the question it raises are, unfortunately, still relevant today,” Philpott said. “Workers are still dying on the job, immigrants are disproportionately more vulnerable, and public awareness of the toll that workplace tragedies take is still very low in Canada. We hope this film will change that.”

With the help of senior editor Joseph Crawford, Philpott began working on the film in 2023. The project was entirely self-funded for the first year. Successful crowd funding in 2024 allowed the team to hire cinematographer Pawel Kacprzak, who filmed in Dresden and other locations in southwestern Ontario, conducting nearly 40 interviews. 

“Since starting work on this project we’ve made countless fascinating discoveries,” Philpott explained. “We’ve found television footage of the tragedy, which we certainly didn’t know existed, and witnesses who we didn’t think were still alive. And we’ve had tremendous support from the community; for example, one volunteer found the original engineering drawings for the pumping station, several of which were done by my father.”

In December 2024, the team completed a 3D scan of the riverbank where the tragedy occurred, allowing them to create visual representations of site as it was in 1957.

The crowdfunding campaign for Dresden 1957 runs until Nov. 28. Anyone interested in supporting this project can contribute at https://dresden1957.com/crowdfunding-for-dresden-1957 

By: Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice

The Encampment Advisory Committee Terms of Reference have been approved by Chatham-Kent council.

When assembled, the new committee will be made up of members of council, representatives from the Northside Neighbours Association (NNA), business owners selected in conjunction with the NNA, members of administration and community members with lived experience. Two members will be chosen from each group.

In September, council directed administration to put together a committee that would include members from affected neighbourhoods “to facilitate transparent communication between the municipality and the community at large” with regard to any proposed changes at encampments.

The action sparked a summer of discontent when the encampment in downtown Chatham relocated to the greenspace at Chatham’s water treatment plant on Grand Avenue East. Neighbours and business owners were outraged, making the municipality aware of vandalism, drug use and the related social disorder the homeless are believed to be responsible for.

Several deputations were made at the outset of the meeting, stressing the need for representation from the community.

Clare McDowell, co-chair of the NNA, said her association, as well as the Tecumseh Park Neighbourhood Association, simply want to be heard and to have their concerns recognized as equally as those speaking for the unhoused.

According to McDowell, the terms fall short of protecting the safety and security of residents.

“We don’t need another forum for talking at each other,” McDowell told council, saying the advisory committee would like to provide input before any decisions come before council. 

“We are afraid the committee will be seen as a rubber stamp, defined by what it can’t do, rather than what it can,” she said.

McDowell also warned the committee should not be affected by “biased selection,” noting a councillor in the ward directly affected by the encampment be included, including councillors who have “dismissed residents’ concerns in the press,” as well as members of social agencies.

“These people have repeatedly attempted to manipulate public sentiment to vilify and negate the concerns of the community,” McDowell said. “Their voices already dominate the conversation. We need new perspectives, not the same ones on repeat.”

According to an administrative report submitted to council, an advisory committee can make recommendations, but it does not make decisions. 

Next steps will see administration post ads for committee and this information will be relayed for decision making in closed council.

Any congregation of 10 tents or more is classed as an encampment in Chatham-Kent.

By: Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice

Despite public pressure, Chatham-Kent will not be designated as an “unwilling host” for future wind turbine development.

At its Nov. 3 meeting council voted against revisiting the issue which put a stop to a motion from Chatham Coun. Amy Finn to join more than 150 Ontario municipalities officially saying no to wind turbines. 

Technically, Finn’s motion asked that Chatham-Kent council to not support the establishment of any new wind project procurements under the umbrella of Ontario’s Independent Electrical System Operator. 

Because the “unwilling host” issue had been raised by North Kent Coun. Rhonda Jubenville in 2024 and voted down, a two-third vote was needed to bring Finn’s motion to the floor to reconsider.

Of the 17 councillors present, 11 voted in favour of revisiting the matter, including councillors Conor Allin, Lauren Anderson, Michael Bondy, Carmen McGregor, Anthony Ceccacci, Ryan Doyle, Finn, Jamie McGrail, Alysson Storey, John Wright and Jubenville.

The six councillors voting against reopening the issue included Marjorie Crew, Brock McGregor, Aaron Hall, Melissa Harrigan, Trevor Thompson and Mayor Darrin Canniff. Councillor Morena McDonald was absent.

As a result, the motion failed by one vote, as 12 votes were necessary.

Earlier in the meeting, a handful of deputations were presented asking council to declare Chatham-Kent an unwilling host to wind turbine projects. Following the decision to forego revisiting the matter, which negated Finn’s motion, an unidentified man in the council chamber audience shouted out “Shame on you, shame on you.”

Wind turbines in Chatham-Kent has long been a contentious topic in Chatham-Kent. Residents in North Kent (Dover and the former Chatham Township) say their wells were fouled – some rendered unusable due to black water – as a direct result of the construction and operation of wind turbines. 

Last month, council voted to quash applications from Capstone Infrastructure and EDF Power Solutions as both companies were seeking permission to build wind turbine farms in East Kent.

Finn, who voted against last year’s motion by Jubenville to designate C-K as an unwilling host to turbines, said she changed her stance because of what’s she recently learned.

“I was in favour previously of allowing farmers to have the choice,” Finn said in her comments. “Learning what I over the last couple of months with regards to the aquifer in East Kent. And knowing what’s happened in other similar areas, I think it’s quite important that we bring this up for discussion.”

It was also pointed out to council during the meeting that the province has yet to reply to the municipality’s request to study the sediment in wells tested in North Kent to see if heavy metals are impacting human health.