“What do you see as key…

“What do you see as key factors to support a successful transition and outcome of regional conservation authority consolidation?”

I oppose the move to consolidate Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities into regional bodies. This move will result in greater bureaucracy and loss of local knowledge and expertise. Conservation authorities were originally designed to meet community needs and be led by those communities they serve within their jurisdiction. While this proposal generally keeps the consolidated authorities bounded by watersheds, the large scale of these new bodies will make it challenging for conservation authorities to tailor their programming to local needs. It will also create greater bureaucracy and slowdown, as there is often already disagreement between members municipalities as to how to CAs should operate, and consolidating into even larger regions will make this process even more challenging.

“What opportunities or benefits may come from a regional conservation authority framework?”

It is unlikely that it will offer new benefits or opportunities, and the current system is preferable with modest modifications. One of the concerns outlined in this proposal is the inconsistent permitting times and services offered by different conservation authorities. There are opportunities to standardize regulations somewhat, or to create a financial equalization scheme to ensure that excess levy from more populous CAs could be used to expand the permits and regulations departments in ones that need it. There is also opportunity for the Province to better fund CAs to ensure they have the ability to meet permit demand, as funding from the province has massively declined since the 1990s. All of these options are very obvious alternatives, and would actually address the issues this proposal supposedly seeks to ameliorate. If anything, the Province should reverse the years of changes to the Conservation Authorities Act if they really care about improving the.

“Do you have suggestions for how governance could be structured at the regional conservation authority level, including suggestions around board size, make-up and the municipal representative appointment process?”

When CAs are smaller, boards members also have more personal relationships, can speak their mind, and settle differences in a much more creative and efficient way. Having larger CAs would require larger boards to adequately represent the new CAs and would lose much of the dynamism and efficiency that smaller CAs have to offer. The best option would be to not move forward with this proposal.

“Do you have suggestions on how to maintain a transparent and consultative budgeting process across member municipalities within a regional conservation authority?”

The best option would be to not move forward with this proposal. This proposal would dramatically reduce the opportunity for public engagement and transparency.

“How can regional conservation authorities maintain and strengthen relationships with local communities and stakeholders?”

Unless there is a plan for regional offices (not discussed in the proposal), programming, and continued autonomy of CA staff at the current level, many of these relationships are going to suffer. One of the features of CAs being local, is that numerous local stakeholders may have direct access to staff and boards to discuss concerns and ideas and form partnerships with CAs. This results in extremely positive and productive partnerships and allows issues to be addressed in an efficient, fair and amicable manner. CA staff need to be able to form working partnerships with local partners with minimal bureaucracy, which is only possible with local scale CAs.

In conclusion, this proposal should be abandoned, and the province should go back to the drawing board with actual consultation as to how to improve CA delivery, and a willingness to actually make changes based on public input. The Environmental Registry has become a complete joke with how the province just approves legislation while consultation is ongoing, or barely finished. Having worked in, volunteered for, and benefited from conservation authority programs previously, it is clear that the Province has concocted this proposal without ever actually taking suggestions from those with the most applicable knowledge of how to improve CAs.