I strongly opposed the…

I strongly opposed the consolidation of conservation authorities . This proposal will not improve but rather will reduce resources and front line service delivery. Many of the municipalities within the area of the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority also oppose this plan and submitted their opposition herein. An Ontario wide conservation agency and a regional conservation authority that is an amalgamation of many others, will be too far removed from the first hand knowledge, experience, and hands on service that our GRCA has and provides . This proposal for us in Northumberland Peterborough South riding where I reside, would include 48 municipalities, would be 16 times larger than the size of our existing CA area, and have a 6 times larger population. This is totally unacceptable because our property tax dollars, which provide the majority of the funding for our CA , would disappear as we would lose local oversight and monitoring of our CA services here, where they know what we need and can provide it on a timely basis. Being mainly a rural area we depend heavily on our CA staff"s local knowledge and expertise. Our CA's have never been more important as we deal with the effects of climate change, and extreme weather events more often, more severe, longer lasting and their more expensive aftermaths. We depend on our CA to monitor and communicate important information such as drought and flood situations and how to deal with them. We are threatened by urban sprawl, the loss of prime agricultural land, soil erosion, plastics pollution and forest canopy and habitat loss. We have depended on the local knowledge of our CA staff, their commitment to our community and expertise for over 80 and for good reason. They do a great job and have the respect of our community. No-one is asking to lose this. Decisions for us are best made by those who live and work in our community where there is lived experience, understanding, cooperation and trust. Our CA staff are readily responsive to our needs and accountable to us through our municipalities. That model works and must continue. We are not prepared to handle over to the province the important role our CA serves. We require science based field staff accountable to our local community, not a centralized bureaucracy.
The costs to effect such a transition would be enormous and take time better spent on service provision. Further, cost effective local environmental expertise and leadership must continue because our municipalities cannot afford to hire staff to do the work we need and expect from our GRCA staff. Staff covering vast geographical areas are likely unable to provide the frontline services we expect and rely on from our GRCA staff. We are better served to have our tax dollars spent in our community for our community. We do not want a system where our municipal tax dollars are spent under provincial direction without municipal oversight.