To whom it may concern. I am…

To whom it may concern.

I am extremely upset that the provincial government wants to consolidate Ontario's 36 Conservation Authorities into 7. This makes no sense at all in this era of climate change. In fact it will be dangerous. I wonder if this government will accept liability for the destruction this will cause to our clean water, private properties etc. Since there is no way of justifying this I can only assume this move will benefit more friends of the government at a high price to the people of Ontario. I fear for the people who will incur enormous expenses due to the short-sighted vision.
Here is why I oppose this:
1. Local voice could get lost. In Niagara particularly this will have a large impact. We already know that developers want to acquire some of the conservation areas.
2. Who will be responsible for permits? Will they actually be qualified or will this be done by unqualified people?
3. In Niagara appropriate watershed decisions are critical. Much of our area is wetlands that have already been destroyed. With the increasing change in weather patterns, poor decision making could result in disasters of epic proportions.
4. Will there be a reduction in front-line work? In Niagara we are already at the bare minimum.
5. Why are local communities not being consulted.
6. Destruction of wetlands is being a major issue. There is a case in my area where our group opposed a housing development because it was being built on a wetland. We recommended a well though out plan where the development could co-exist with the wetland but we were unable to present our case at the tribunal. Now years later, the area is a mess because the developer can't sell the few houses he build because of water issues. Situations like this will certainly increase as local knowledge is down played.
7. Ontario is way behind other provinces in terms of flood risk management. This proposal will put us further behind.
8. Poor urban design is resulting in more serious flooding events. Without proper local knowledge flooding will become more serious. Watershed planning is critical to preventing this.
9. Localized authority is the appropriate structure when it comes to preventing disasters like flooding and the aftermath which will result in millions of dollars of destruction.
10. The public has not been informed of the real reasons for the restructuring. Why not?
11. How would a larger conservation authority be accountable to municipalities with smaller populations?
12. What would the cost of transiting these authorities be?
13. Increased cost to municipalities without any demonstrated benefits.
14. In September 2018, the Auditor General of Ontario published their report on the Special Audit of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, with 20 recommendations to the conservation authority and 4 recommendations to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to improve governance, operations, policies and processes to strengthen the delivery of programs and services, which have been fully implemented by Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, who is committed to continuous improvement;
Please listen to educated people about the watersheds. Place-based science is important.