To Premier Ford and the…

To Premier Ford and the Minister of the Environment,

I am writing as a Niagara resident to strongly oppose the proposed amalgamation of Ontario’s conservation authorities.

This plan shows a clear disregard for local accountability and local expertise. In Niagara, our conservation authority understands our watersheds, flooding risks, wetlands, and farmland because they work here. Centralizing things usually leads to less transparency, weaker oversight, and the loss of experienced staff, regardless of how it’s being dressed up. At a time when flooding, erosion, and climate impacts are getting worse, weakening local conservation capacity is reckless.

The government claims this consolidation will save money and improve efficiency, yet has provided no cost‑benefit analysis or supporting data. They argue that merging authorities will reduce duplication, standardize systems, and “redeploy” senior staff, but there is no proof that these changes will actually save money. The upfront costs of merging IT, finance, and administrative systems will also be high. In my opinion, this feels like a move to centralize control under the guise of saving money, while risking local expertise and effective conservation for all of Ontario.

Niagara does not benefit from one-size-fits-all decisions made by people who don’t know our land. This proposal feels less about conservation and more about clearing obstacles to development by weakening local oversight. Residents are right to be concerned about what will be lost.

I strongly urge you to abandon this reckless approach and stop dismantling the watershed-based, locally accountable conservation system that has protected communities and the environment across Ontario for decades. This is about more than Niagara; it’s about every river, wetland, forest, and floodplain that depends on local knowledge, experienced staff, and community oversight to survive. Don’t sacrifice our environment and our future for the sake of centralization and “efficiency."