"The province introduced…

"The province introduced Bill 68, also known as the Plan to Protect Ontario Act, in early November. Under the bill, the province is creating a new Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency to oversee conservation authorities and is proposing to merge the province’s 36 conservation authorities into seven large regional authorities"

Merging 36 bodies into just 7 large regional authorities would seem a move to render the conservation authority quite ineffectual. “Protect Ontario” ? More like “control Ontario”.

There are concerns about budget impact, the erosion of relationships and responsiveness and the loss of local knowledge as a result of such a merger.

The province has not undertaken a cost-benefit analysis or provided proposed approaches for consideration. Currently municipalities provide approximately 44 per cent of the total GSCA funding, while the province provides about seven per cent, mostly for source water protection. The conservation authority generates about 50 per cent of its revenue.

SUCH A MERGER MAKES NO SENSE (except as an ego trip) certainly NOT TO RESIDENTS OF SOUTH BRUCE PENINSULA - A HUGE AREA OF MANY LAKES, RIVERS, FENS, BOGS, MARSHES - NOT TO THIS RESIDENT OF GOULD LAKE WHICH REQUIRES DILIGENT AND LOCAL OVERSIGHT TO MAINTAIN ITS WATER QUALITY.

PLEASE STOP THE MERGER