Most of Canada's rare and…

Most of Canada's rare and endangered species live in Southern Ontario. Southern Ontario has the most biodiversity in Canada, as well as the highest population density. People travel from around the world to visit our natural areas and stay in our parks. Our conservation authorities play a very important role in protecting and managing our wonderful natural areas. They are already strained and need more resources, and any reduction resources results in worse outcomes for our watersheds and the animals that depend on them including us humans, as we source so much of our drinking water from watersheds protected and managed by conservation authorities. Why would we want to reduce our drinking water protection? Less oversight means more flooding, more damage and more repair costs.

We don't need to amalgamate conservation authorities to speed up approval of permits. Please look at the stats for how often the Conservation Authorities meet deadlines for permit approvals. 99% of permits were approved before deadline in 2024 in my area. Please listen to your constituents, not developers. Please listen to the experts on what they say will work best for managing Ontario's beautiful natural areas.