I am writing to express my…

I am writing to express my strong opposition to the proposed merger of the province’s 36 conservation authorities into seven large regional authorities reporting to a new centralized agency.

Conservation authorities are most effective when they are grounded in local knowledge and responsive to the unique environmental, social, and economic conditions of the communities they serve. Consolidating them into much larger regional bodies risks weakening local decision-making and reducing the ability of communities to have a meaningful voice in conservation, land-use planning, and watershed management.

This merger would also make management more complex rather than more efficient. Larger, centralized structures can create additional layers of bureaucracy, slow response times, and make it harder to address local issues in a timely and effective manner. The diversity of the province’s watersheds, ecosystems, and communities requires flexible, locally adapted approaches—not one-size-fits-all solutions.

Finally, I am concerned that this restructuring would hamper services that are currently tailored to the specific needs of different regions. Flood management, environmental protection, and community engagement vary widely across the province, and local conservation authorities are best positioned to understand and respond to those differences.

For these reasons, I urge you to reconsider this proposal and to protect the autonomy and local expertise of our conservation authorities. Strengthening, rather than centralizing, these institutions is essential to ensuring effective environmental stewardship and community resilience.

Thank you for considering my concerns.