I have concerns with Bill…

I have concerns with Bill 108 and changes to the Conservation Authorities Act (schedule 2). While I understand the need to reduce costs and improve efficiencies, I would point out that Conservation Authorities offer good value for money, providing the ONLY watershed-based approach to managing Ontario's water resources. Their integrated services include flood control, conservation, restoration, and related services that work together to protect the watershed system. Recent catastrophic flooding across Ontario underscores the importance of managing flows and water quality on a watershed basis, not site-by-site or project-by -project. Floodplains and drinking water - and thus the protection of human health, life, and property - cannot be managed effectively without this system-wide approach, and only Conservation Authorities currently fill that role. The watershed restoration activities of Conservation Authorities, especially tree planting, forest management and habitat restoration, invasive species management, and protection of a range of recreational resources, are key to this role, as is their activities to monitor and report on watershed health.

Ontario's natural environment provides a huge range of ecosystem goods and services that contribute to the health and well-being on Ontarians and the broader Ontario economy. Those benefits cannot and should not be discounted or jeopardized in any cost-cutting initiative. The proposal as it stands would put the activities of Conservation Authorities at risk, and with them the ecosystem goods and services that underpin so much of Ontario's social and economic well-being. As Ontario's population grows, it will become increasingly important to ensure that the province's "natural capital" is adequately protected through a systems approach. Only Conservation Authorities currently provide that service.