The government's proposal is…

The government's proposal is worded in the past tense. It seems that this proposal will be adopted despite reservations. I now provide my comment nonetheless.

1) At least in Southern Ontario, which is the most populous portion of Ontario, Conservation Authorities correspond with Municipal regions, such as the region of Hamilton, Peel, Niagara, and so on. Consolidation of Authorities would introduce another layer of administrative complexity whereas municipal alignment is already in place due to shared geography and direct applicability to local building permit issuance.

2) Centralising expertise will lead to unintentional harm to watersheds by introducing additional steps for internal staff to ensure their observations are noted and measures implemented for watershed protection.

3) Reducing important approvals required for building permits in municipalities that relate to water conservation and local ecology is the wrong target to cut administrative red-tape. For these matters the perceived bureaucracy is perfectly justified to protect the population's water sources and the ecological treasures that spawn from it.

4) Concerns raised by existing conservation areas have not been addressed, refer to supporting HCA statement posted to their website.

For these reasons, reduction of localised control over watersheds and building permit requirements does not serve or protect the public good and should not be pursued by this government's proposal.