I am a resident of Hamilton…

I am a resident of Hamilton writing to you deeply concerned about legislation to amalgamate the Conservation Authorities (CA) in Ontario.

Conservation by its very nature requires local knowledge, expertise and partnerships. There is absolutely no way lumping together multiple watersheds, over multiple municipalities and thousands of square kilometers, will improve the way Conservation Authorities do their work. This move is clearly meant to disrupt the effectiveness of Conservation Authorities ability to do the job Ontarians want them to do.

Amalgamation is expensive, ineffective without planning and will absolutely deteriorate the services these authorities perform. If there are improvements to be made in how CA perform their mandated job bring members from Conservation Authorities together to align and share their experiences, expertise and approaches. Support CA by investing in common systems and technologies and provide stable funding so they can plan and implement changes effectively.

Standardization doesn’t require amalgamation, the process requires leadership, and I think Ontarians see the Government's ruse.

There is clearly no plan to the amalgamation. No governing plan, no costing plan, no land management plan, no community consultation plan. There has been no evidence presented as to why this is needed from either an administrative level, or a conservation perspective. In fact, quite the opposite. The only reason seems to be to ‘put shovels in the ground’. Something completely at odds with the CA’s mandates.

This is about minimizing local voices and expertise so insiders can speed through environmentally questionable development. Much like the land grab of The Greenbelt and Ontario Place (never mind the Skills Development Fund), this stinks of the incompetence, cronyism and corruption in the Ford Government.