I strongly oppose the…

I strongly oppose the proposal to consolidate Ontario’s regional conservation authorities. The proposed regions are incredibly vast, covering a variety of watersheds and ecosystems with different needs. The current conservation authorities are experts in their local watersheds and understand the specific needs for their regions. Amalgamating will mean losing that local expertise, with a central authority who cannot possibly understand the intricacies of every part of its large region.

Rural areas, where conservation efforts are incredibly important, will be underrepresented in these huge zones, because cities with large populations will naturally have a bigger voice. It’s completely illogical to combine the conservation authorities of a bunch of cities and all of the rural regions. The needs in these areas are very different and should be represented fairly by people who understand them.

When so much is already centralized, I absolutely do not want to cede any conservation decision-making power to another centralized authority that doesn’t take rural needs into account.

The provincial government is also expecting municipal taxpayers to fund these conservation authorities. It’s ludicrous to exert your power over something that should be decided locally and then expect municipalities to pay for your harmful plans.

An example from one of my local conservation authorities: “A regional funding model must be fair to rural municipalities and avoid cost shifts that disadvantage small communities. Member municipalities contribute 34% of the UTRCA’s operating budget through levies and cost-sharing agreements, 34% is self-generated through user fees and donations, and 30% is obtained through applications to foundations and other levels of government to leverage municipal contributions and provide more robust programs to watershed residents. The provincial contributions represent just 2% of the UTRCA’s operating budget.” If we are funding it, we should be in control of it.

Our regional authorities also make decisions within the province’s guidelines, and are not causing delays. The province is making excuses to meddle in something that does not need to be fixed. It is already working as it should, and this proposal will only cause chaos.