There is no reasonable…

There is no reasonable justification for amalgamation of the existing Conservation Authorities into several mega-regional entitities. This will not provide any cost savings in the long run, and will inevitably lead to the loss of local input. The existing framework that Conservation Authorities operate under is largely driven at the grassroots level, with local funding. Under the new proposal, this local input is going to be severely diluted, if not lost. Funding is going to be threatened at the local level if those persons/businesses/entities that previously saw success and "bang for their buck" no longer feel the same way. Since it is readily apparent that the Province of Ontario has no interest in actually properly funding Conservation Authorities to carry out their mandate, the least they could do is not actively inhibit them from doing a good job by amalgamation into gigantic, unwieldy, non-sensical consortiums.

This looks like a backhanded way to attack regulations around development in sensitive areas by the Ford government. I am a devout Conservative, and one of the guiding principles is to allow local governance and decision making wherever possible. The current government is taking the opposite approach, trying to drive decisions from Queens Park at the expense of local expertise and resources.

This idea has massive political risk for the government, and no discernible benefit outside of benefitting unnamed corporate sponsors (e.g. real estate developers).