I have a number of concerns…

I have a number of concerns with the proposal to amalgamate Ontario’s conservation authorities, specifically:
1. Ontario’s Conservation Authorities are watershed-based. They were designed to protect drinking water, reduce flood risk, conserve natural areas, and monitor watershed health. Conservation authorities holistically regulate development and deliver conservation initiatives at a watershed scale for the benefit of the environment and people. Part of the reasoning for amalgamation is to streamline permitting processes to make the development process easier for landowners and developers. What guarantee is there that this streamlining will result in the adoption of the tools and methods that do the most to protect Ontario’s environment and natural heritage?
2. Central to the establishment of conservation authorities was the recognition that they embody local needs and are led by local voices. The proposed amalgamation completely contradicts this principle by massively increasing the area (and number of municipalities) that each conservation authority (and its governing body) is responsible for. This will disproportionately impact small rural communities that are frequently at the headwaters of watersheds and where protection and conservation is key to the entire watershed. Amalgamation will result in municipalities and developers losing local knowledge and contacts which will result in delays to permitting processes.
3. The proposed amalgamated conservation authorities not only ignore relevant local decision-making but also the ecological grounding of the watershed-based model that created the authorities in the first place. For example, combining Lakehead Region Conservation Authority on the north shore of Lake Superior with authorities south of Lake Huron ignores the completely different ecology, hydrology and climates of these regions.
4. Decision-makers will no longer be part of local communities resulting in incredibly important local knowledge being excluded from key decisions, leaving communities more exposed to the devastating impacts of flooding and other environmental losses. Flooding is the costliest natural hazard in Ontario and is expected to become an even greater threat in the coming years.
5. Lastly, the creation of the regional conservation authorities will cost taxpayer dollars that we can ill afford in a time of increasing cost of living. Policy harmonization, IT integration, governance restructuring and sorting out legalities related to property ownership are just some of the items that will burden taxpayers and reduce funding for delivery of front-line services.