I am writing to strongly…

I am writing to strongly oppose the regional consolidation of Ontario’s conservation authorities (CAs). While the proposal looks to provide the benefits of streamlining and developing common practices, the consequences are much greater. CAs were created at the watershed scale to provide local expertise in the protection of a watershed’s people and environment. With a regional consolidation, this local focus would be lost, damaging relationships with local stewards and diluting the knowledge that conservation practitioners have developed over decades. CAs have developed their own long term monitoring programs and practices that are geared to serve the people and nature of their particular watershed. Amalgamating Ontario’s CAs would put long term datasets at risk, disregarding scientific data that is important for making watershed-wide decisions. While the amalgamation would streamline permitting processes, this would be at the benefit of developers, not the environment or local citizens, disregarding the original mandate of the Conservation Authorities Act. Fast tracking permitting approvals will put local citizens at increased flood risk without the localized knowledge currently existing at the watershed scale. The Ontario CA system is seen by other conservation agencies as a great example of how localized conservation efforts (at the CA level) can improve conditions at a greater geographic scale (at the provincial level). Consider the environment and Ontarians first, not the developers, and revoke this bill.