I am writing this comment to…

I am writing this comment to provide my feedback as an Ontario-born naturalist in regards to the incredibly short-sighted and misguided proposal to consolidate our 36 Conservation Areas (CAs) across the province. The structure of our CAs is framed around watersheds for an important and specific reason that has made Ontario a shining beacon for the world in relation to natural area conservation and public safety and resilience. In case this proposal is being made by people who have no sense of the history of CAs in Ontario (which, based on the current track record of the Ford government, seems likely), here is a brief overview of some key information.

Our CAs began to be formed in the 1940s in response to increased impacts of floods and other severe weather, which culminated in the devastation caused by Hurricane Hazel in 1954. With 81 deaths in Ontario and the cost of damages equivalent to just shy of roughly $1.6 BILLION today, this catastrophe resulted in the creation of the Toronto Region Conservation Authority (a merger of smaller CAs that actually made sense, unlike this proposal) and a complete reworking of our relationship with our watersheds that has provided decades of integrated management. We learned the hard way as a province back then that ignoring our environment and its cycles, like floods, drought, and extreme weather events, results in disaster for everyone. The increased capacity and control over flood plains in the province was given to CAs for the safety and wellbeing of all stakeholders - sometimes "red tape" is there for a reason, to keep us from falling off cliffs info dangerous situations. Streamlining permits and other procedures can be important for improving the function of an organization, but not at the expense of the safety and wellbeing of Ontarians.

Our watersheds exist in their own unique contexts, with different environmental conditions, variable levels of development and human impact and different municipalities. Adding another layer of bureaucracy at the cost of taxpayers is doubly insulting, because it takes away the local expertise that makes our CAs so unique and effective, while also making the solutions Ontarians need more distant when our environmental conditions are becoming more unpredictable to the very real and present reality of climate change. We need localized solutions for effective management that is relevant to our communities that live in the watersheds. The only process this merger will streamline is the continued destruction of our watersheds that this government seems so focused on achieving. Your proposal speaks of increased transparency, yet there has been no public consultation to develop this plan in the first place. Zero discussion with Indigenous people who have an even greater system of local knowledge that this government continues to ignore. It is incredibly transparent that science-based management is the farthest thing from the focus of this proposal, otherwise it would be approached very differently, if at all.

As a citizen of Ontario who has lived here my whole life, and learned more and more about our natural world and visited many CAs across Southern Ontario, I am vehemently against this proposal of amalgamation and regional governance because it makes no sense. If you want to provide more support for our CAs to become more efficient, fund them. Give people good paying jobs as stewards of our watersheds to continue the incredible work that has made Ontario and it CAs exemplary on the global stage. It's time for this government to realize that it needs to align itself with the priorities of its people and its environment, instead of expecting us all to do more with less for some of the most fundamental elements of our safety and wellbeing. Efficiently allowing more floodplain lands and invaluable natural spaces to be sold to developers is not the answer.