I am writing to you with…

I am writing to you with significant concerns respecting the proposition of creating a regional oversight bureaucracy within the Provincial Government. I am unsure of the intent of this proposition in an era where the Government has access to co-ordinated GIS systems across the land. These systems can provide accurate, consistent information that is provided to the existing Conservation Authorities (CAs) across Ontario. I do not understand the 'stated goal' of a regional bureaucracy that can streamline regulations across diverse areas of the Province; you already have the capability to do this through the use of standardized regulations available to all via the internet. To me, the proposition appears to be an attempt to direct ‘power and control’ away from local watershed managers to bureaucrats working at Queen’s Park. The creation of new government bureaucracy is not a desired approach in the trying times we are all facing here in Ontario.

There are numerous examples from the recent past where the regionalization of services and governance have not worked out, i.e., no cost savings or streamlining of services. Consider the examples of LHINS (regional Local Health Integration Networks) in health care administration or the regionalization of municipalities. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/municipal-amalgamation-ontario

I urge you to protect the watershed-based, community-informed governance model of the existing CAs as they exist today; they have demonstrated strong leadership in safeguarding Ontario’s waters and communities for decades. For more than 80 years, CAs have enabled municipalities sharing the same watershed to work together to reduce flood risk, protect drinking-water sources, steward natural ecosystems, and prepare for extreme weather. Although the government suggests that consolidation will resolve inconsistencies across CAs, restructuring on this scale risks dismantling the very model that makes watershed management effective.

The effectiveness of CAs comes from local expertise and governance aligned with watershed boundaries, not administrative regions. Oversized regions push decision-making farther away from the people and communities who know their watersheds best. Decades of monitoring, partnerships, and place-based science cannot be scaled up or replaced by a distant regional or provincial body. Make no mistake - this change will worsen water protections, increase flood risk, and put Ontarians at risk.
Strong, locally informed oversight is essential for public safety. While the government frames consolidation as a solution to inconsistencies across CAs, it does not actually resolve these challenges.

Diluted local authority and increased provincial control heighten the risk of weaker prevention measures and decisions that are disconnected from lived watershed realities. Centralization also fails to account for the complexity and diversity of ecosystems and community needs.

It is also important to recognize that the Conservation Authorities Act has already undergone substantial “modernization” recently. Province-wide standards under Ontario Regulation 41/24 and reinforced mandatory programs under O. Reg. 686/21 have already targeted changes to address concerns related to consistency, transparency, and capacity.

There is no justification for sweeping structural changes now - it simply creates more uncertain times in the development industry that on one wants. Watershed governance must remain rooted in local realities. Centralizing decision-making into large regional bodies undermines the very principles that keep communities safe and drinking water protected.

As one final note, I have attached a report that does a good job on the evolution and history of Conservation Authorities in the Province; the Government is proposing to tamper with a fine-tuned organization structure that is the envy of many other jurisdictions around the world dealing with water related/natural hazard and heritage issues. The proposal is for tinkering with a system that protects existing natural and human communities and is a risky proposition, i.e., at our common peril.