To whom this may concern, My…

To whom this may concern,

My name is Madison and I am writing to express my deepest concerns about the proposed changes to the Conservation Authorities Act. The proposal itself is underdeveloped and does not include a detailed plan about how 36 conservation authorities will be amalgamated into 7 entities. I have read through the proposal and it is extremely vague.

The reasoning given is to increase the turnaround time for building permits. Each conservation authority works with each other to share knowledge, templates, etc, and the only differences between them are due to meeting their community's needs. The proposal suggests they do not work together which is far from the truth. Fast tracking building permits would be detrimental to the environment. If conservation authorities do not take the time to go through each permit, houses could be built on floodplains which will cause damage to these newly built houses in the future (this will also raise insurance costs). I understand there is a housing crisis but is building more unafforable houses on land that conservation authorities are trying to protect going to help? Especially when Bill C-60 was passed that will allow landlords to increase rent. It seems the government keeps contradicting itself. I myself would like to be a homeowner one day but this is not the solution.

Members of our community (Windsor-Essex County), from construction companies, concerned citizens, townships, and even the City of Windsor vehemently disapprove of this plan. Staff members from our local conservation authority have met with political constituents who also do not seem to have any answers and are unfamiliar with what a watershed actually is. It is quite disappointing to see.

The proposed plan would cost an excessive amount of money and take time away from the important work CAs are already doing. There are many individuals who work for these organizations, and they have families they are trying to provide for. The proposal says there will be no job losses, but does that mean a staff member will be given the choice to move from Windsor to London? People cannot just pick up their lives and move when they have a life that is already established.

When I looked at the proposed map, I noticed that the Toronto Region Conservation Authority will remain the same and will only have to change its name. The rest of the CAs will have to scramble and try to figure out their next steps. It is confusing as to why Southern Ontario would be combined with CAs all the way up to the Grand River. Our experts here in Windsor-Essex know the area and they are unfamiliar with these other areas. My suggestion is to keep the CAs local! It already seems like the provincial government has no interest in these comments or actually consulting the CAs this impacts. The Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency has already passed and the government continues to steamroll ahead and has staffed this agency.

This is quite an unfortunate time and I wish the provincial government would focus additional resources in other much needed areas instead of wasting money. I hope my comment will be taken into consideration and not disregarded.

Best,

Madison

P.S. Please see my additional links to the outcry this has caused.