Hello ERO and all, I am very…

Hello ERO and all,

I am very concerned about the Proposed Provincial Changes to Conservation Authorities.
https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/025-1257
As one local example, NPCA has been very committed to protecting natural ecosystems, property and people across the Niagara Peninsula watershed, as a strong local effective conservation authority.

My concerns with the Proposed Provincial Changes to Conservation Authorities. include:
- Most importantly, the criticality of local accountability, to ensure proper stewardship and accountabilities in local communities.
- Scale and complexity of the proposed Western Lake Ontario RCA: The proposed RCA would span approximately 490,000 hectares across nearly two million residents and 28 municipalities. Reducing local representation from a combined 53 current board members to a smaller consolidated board risks losing diverse voices and weakening connections with local communities, partners, and long-standing watershed relationships built over 60+ years.
- Lack of demonstrated need for restructuring.
- Apparently, there has been no provided assessments or analyses demonstrating that Ontario’s current watershed-based conservation authority model requires structural change to improve efficiency or service delivery.
- Complexity of merging four independent conservation authorities, will likely negatively impact staff resources away from critical watershed programs.
- Potential negative impacts on staff capacity and service delivery (with larger boards, increased administrative oversight and more complex processes), will likely reduce the capacity of expert staff to deliver the same level of vital watershed programming communities rely on (and increasingly so).

Overall, the proposed plan seems to be a 'step back' from a more locally effective, area-informed, 'grassroots' conservation effort and service, that supports higher local visibility, community-specific needs, locally empowered governance and community-involved stewardship of lands and waters, and effective local community engagement, responsiveness, and service delivery.
I hope you will reconsider the proposed strategy and continue with the local Conservation Authority model.
Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
concerned Ontario citizen.