Localized, watershed-based…

Localized, watershed-based management is critical for flood prevention, erosion mitigation, and managing natural resources. The goals the provincial government aims to achieve can be reached without consolidation. Through the existing Conservation Ontario or through the new Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency, a unified permitting system could resolve concerns with differences in processing across the province.
This change would come with significant financial burden. From logo development, rebranding, and obsolete materials to time spent figuring out how to go about the details, to HR and IT unification and getting all staff on equal benefit and pension plans and the same salary grid.
Management decisions are made on a very local scale and should remain that way. If you must consolidate, please consider instead working with the existing parameters and relationships of the Source Protection Regions. It is imperative that these regions are not divided, as is proposed for the CTC, as this has serious potential to put our drinking water at risk and set us back 25 years.
Local offices are required to best deliver programs and services. It would be inefficient and ineffective for staff in Caledonia to perform site visits and offer information to residents in Niagara.
To maintain public trust, the Province must demonstrate with clear evidence why they believe these changes are required.
This proposal forgets why Conservation Authorities were created in the first place, and how Source Protection Plans were developed. If we forget, we are doomed to repeat mistakes of the past, making us vulnerable to the ongoing impacts of climate change and putting Ontarians at risk to loss of life, livelihood, and property from natural hazards.