Hello. Thank you for the…

Hello. Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments on this proposal. I have many concerns about what is proposed and offer the following points for consideration:

1) Conservation Authorities work best when decisions are made close to the land and the people affected. Local knowledge of soils, drainage, flood risk, and land use is critical to safe and sustainable development. The proposal to centralize environmental permitting raises serious concerns about the loss of local expertise, reduced responsiveness, and increased administrative complexity. There is a major landslide area in my watershed that requires very specific, local knowledge and expertise to work around. It would be disastrous if that knowledge was lost or diluted as another major landslide will eventually happen.

2) Conservation Authorities in Eastern Ontario (where I live) deliver timely reviews and permitting that support housing and infrastructure. They are not a barrier to development and a switch to a regional model will cause delay and uncertainty for the development community. Professionals in the development industry (planners, engineers, etc.) have direct contacts at the local level that they can work with whenever challenges arise. They know that they can call someone from a local CA and that person can meet them on site quickly if needed to resolve issues.

3) Rural communities need strong representation and should not be marginalized in large regional systems. I live in a rural community and I want to know that my tax dollars that support the Conservation Authority are being directed by someone from my municipality who is accountable to the tax payers. I want to know that I have a representative on the Board of the Conservation Authority who is advocating for beneficial programs and services for my community, no matter the size or the amount of levy we pay to the Conservation Authority.

4) Conservation lands were built through community donations and partnerships and should remain locally stewarded. It is not right or appropriate for lands that were donated to a specific organization to be subject to the whim of a provincial agency. The Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency should not have the ability to direct a Conservation Authority on what it can or can not do with its land holdings, especially land that was bought or donated for the purpose of preserving it in perpetuity.

5) People expect their governments to take environmental priorities seriously — and that includes funding them properly. Provincial funding now represents only about 3% of Conservation Authority operations; this is not an equal partnership. Any restructuring or consolidation must be fully funded by the Province, so municipal tax dollars are not redirected away from local services. Communities want to see the Province return to an equal funding partnership with municipalities.

6) Modernization can and should happen without dismantling local governance. If amalgamations are pursued, they should be voluntary, appropriately scaled, and fully funded. Incentivizing modernization would yield better results with a lot less turmoil than what is proposed.

7) Conservation Authorities are committed to working collaboratively with municipalities, residents, farmers, and Indigenous communities — and this cooperative model should be strengthened, not replaced. Shared service agreements are a simpler, cheaper, and more cost-effective solution that should be explored before a forced consolidation.

Thank you for your consideration.

Michelle