I think everything should be…

I think everything should be left the way that it is currently as merging 36 into 7 authorities is going to leave a lot to be desired. There’s no way seven authorities can give the attention to all of the issues.
The merging if it were to go ahead, would result in the dilution of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan: A mega-regional authority responsible for multiple Great Lakes watersheds is far less able to maintain the place-based focus the LSPP requires. As far as I’m concerned, the great Lake watersheds are far too important to not receive the attention that they deserve.
The loss of local expertise would result in all of the unique factors like Lake Simcoe’s unique and worsening pressures. To be more precise, phosphorus pollution, rising chloride from road salt, climate-driven flooding risks and natural-heritage cover require scientists who know this watershed intimately.
All decisions for LSRCA should be factored to local needs. If the consolidation proposed were to go through, local voices would be reduced, and accountability diminished.
I’m not a fan of the higher costs and complexity so despite the idea behind this being to cut costs a -big amalgamation like this proposal often increase costs due to the large number of factors that would be squeezed into the seven multi regional bodies.
I think that the province shouldexclude LSRCA from the consolidation framework, protect and expand local scientific capacity, and publicly commit that the LSPP’s monitoring, reporting and adaptive management will not be weakened. The province should leave LSRCA as is so it can continue to focus on all of the specific needs, and as a result, be able to make quick decisions specific to that area, which you’re unlike others. If it were to be one of the conservation authorities consolidated into the seven instead of being left as is the area would suffer immensely.