Amalgamation of conservation…

Amalgamation of conservation authorities in Ontario is inappropriate. The move to do so inherently requires new boundaries to be made, new policies to be made, new knowledge of each area to be shared; all of which is costly to the tax payer and risky for the user of the authority area and for the staff members themselves.

New boundaries being made, especially those which amalgamate large areas of land, requires staff to learn more and quickly on the state of each added piece of land. This move to combine or redistribute land governance is likely to result in lowered response time for maintenance of trails (which leads to user injury, law suits, and more).

New policy requirements on new boundaries will lower the ability for staff to be stationed close to the trails which need maintaining (particularly in the northern Ontario regions proposed to be amalgamated under one authority), and new boundaries means new models of existing watersheds being required to provide staff with the technical knowledge to make the best decisions for their lands with respect to flooding potential, species at risk and land development projects.

This policy runs a significant risk for people in Ontario to lose the ability to walk maintained and safe trails through the nature which makes Ontario such a beautiful place. It risks staff member coverage and knowledge of region specific significant natural features for the sake of "making approvals easier". This policy risks the life and longevity of Ontario's natural beauty by making each authority so big that they have little to no budget to properly maintain records and build scientific knowledge of the regions they cover, particularly risking flooding and adverse ecological health affects. From this perspective, as a concerned person who uses conservation authority lands and works with them to approve new developments; it is my opinion that this proposal be rejected.

Thank you.