To Whom It May Concern: I am…

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to you about the Ontario Government’s Proposed Bill 68, “Plan to Protect Ontario (Budget Measures)”.

Like many citizens who care about the quality of life in our communities, I am very strongly opposed to this Bill. There are many reasons why I oppose it.

1. The current system of local conservation authorities under the Conservation Authorities Act works well. I know that it works very well in my area (Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority). There can always be improvements, but an unnecessarily large restructuring where there is no demonstrated need is not a viable solution.

2. We do not need the wasteful spending required to set up a new system, especially if the funds come out of resources for important programs already in place.

3. Funding from municipalities and citizens may be affected by this kind of change. It will be more difficult to spend equitably across a larger area and fundraising engagement will likely suffer if the public loses faith in the larger authority’s interest and commitment to their communities.

4. Larger regional conservation entities will lack the specific knowledge and awareness of the area to be served. There will be less oversight on the local level. This could result in less effective managements of flood risk and other natural disasters. There will be more pressure on the staff of the larger area to respond to the variety of issues, with less awareness of the local conditions and communities involved.

5. Local representation on Conservation Authority board will be diminished. Larger conservation authority areas will not have the knowledge of the watersheds and relationships with municipalities, local Indigenous communities, environmental groups and local developers will be weaker and less effective.

N.B. I suspect that weaker and less effective is part of the Government’s long-term goal with this unnecessary restructuring. Weaker oversight will allow more of the connected developers to access to lands that are best retained in the natural environment. There is no need to encroach on protected lands and doing so will harm, not protect Ontario.

Healthy communities require many aspects of society to be properly addressed. The need for affordable housing, good roads, resilient infrastructure, recreation, policing, etc is well understood. Well managed natural environments that support the watersheds, balance development with nature, allow citizens access to natural spaces are equally important to all aspects of building liveable communities.

Until the current system no longer works, is would be irresponsible to invest valuable resources into a system that will likely not meet the needs of Ontario’s citizens. If the Government wants to maintain service continuity, leave the system in place and build on the current successes and work with the current Conservation authorities to standardize some practises. Of course, depending on local conditions, some practises may need to be tailored for the local conditions. If better aligning “conservation authorities’ services with provincial priorities” means another attempt at undermining Ontario’s natural spaces as it did with the assault on the Green Belt, then we the citizen’s have more work to do.

With grave concern,

an Ontario voter