As a rural landowner in a…

As a rural landowner in a predominantly rural municipality/county, I am fully opposed to the amalgamation of the Conservation Authorities. We will lose our local voice and expertise to a large, regional bureaucracy. If the intent is to speed up development, the government should work with and provide sufficient funding to the CAs to help them excel in their program deliveries. There are innumerable existing vacant, and approved building lots in the Province, there is no need to disrupt the current functions of local Conservation Authorities. CAs are not the problem in providing sufficient and affordable housing in Ontario.

Unique to Ontario, Conservation Authorities holistically regulate development and deliver conservation initiatives at a watershed scale for the benefit of people and the environment.

Central to the establishment of CAs was the recognition that they embody local needs and be led by local voices. The proposed amalgamation completely contradicts this principle by concentrating decision-making power in the hands of the province rather than local experts.

If the decision-making process for the seven proposed regional conservation authorities is allowed to proceed independently, the proposed boundaries are far too sprawling to enable locally relevant decision-making. For example, combining Lakehead Region Conservation Authority on the north shore of Lake Superior with authorities south of Lake Huron ignores the completely different ecology, hydrology and climates of these regions. It is unclear from the proposal and legislative amendments how this consolidation can possibly accelerate decision-making when the amalgamated authorities will need to serve dozens of municipalities with unique local needs and span watersheds with distinctly different environmental conditions.

Decision-makers will no longer be part of local communities resulting in incredibly important local knowledge being excluded from key decisions, leaving communities more exposed to the devastating impacts of flooding and broader environmental losses. Flooding is the costliest natural hazard in Ontario and is expected to become an even greater threat in the coming years. This is a change communities cannot afford.