These proposed changes are…

These proposed changes are unnecessary. How can you promote acting on a watershed basis, when you are amalgamating 36 independent agencies into 7. The outlined regions are absolutely massive - and it is irresponsible to think that one region would be able to accommodate the needs of the communities within that area. Conservation Authorities are underfunded as it is. Amalgamating will only remove the smaller authorities from their communities, thus once again, proving the GTA centric attitude of this government. You've had Conservation Ontario as the governing body to CAs. The Province should have utilized this already existing organization and helped to give them the authority to work with the different CAs to streamline the topics of concern. Instead, the Province has spent how much money (?) trying to reinvent the wheel. No conservation authority is the same. Every watershed is different. Every community has different needs and wants. It is ridiculous to think that amalgamating into such massive regions is going to fix anything. Stop wasting tax payer dollars on these schemes. It's not working with the health units and it's not going to work here. Communities are going to suffer. They will not receive the environmental attention they deserve. The Province is penalizing entire organizations because of how one department functions. If money was invested into supporting the CAs from the get-go, then the Province could have identified and fixed the issues a long time ago. Instead money has been continuously cut, leaving the individual authorities to scramble coming up with user fees as a way to stay afloat. This Provincial Government only cares about building and supporting back-room deals with contactors. Removing the community based power to protect and preserve environmentally significant lands is a failure on the Province and a failure to our future generations.