I am writing to inform you…

I am writing to inform you of my concern of the recent intention to combine multiple conservation authorities into one. This act risks diluting the specificity of environmental standards to suit general, regional permitting. Regional and municipal land-use decisions become the choice of the province at large, rather than the community that a given decision would affect. Reasonable clarity has not been provided on the scope and limitations imposed on the provincial board governed agencies that will oversee this consolidation. Transparent budgets and governance procedures have not been provided for the entirety of the consolidation process.

Streamlining services may be beneficial in reducing redundancy and duplicating effort, but will be costly in terms of updating administrative tools and providing sufficient and appropriate training to employees to account for the nuance required to impose general rules on a varied and diverse jurisdiction. The lack of funding plans and detailed proposals makes me deeply concerned for the success and intention of this merger. There is a severe lack of detail provided regarding governance, finances, and actual staffing changes. “Trust me,” is not good enough. “We have your best interests at heart,” is not good enough. I simply do not believe that. I question whether the haphazard nature of the plans provided belays the integrity, or lack thereof, and greed behind it. I am unsettled by a fundamental lack of accountability as evidenced by the nothing provided to constituents that they may use to ensure that promises made are promises kept.

Constant communication is required between conservation authorities to ensure that their needs are being met. Most have voiced in public statements that they are open to further discussion regarding the consolidation, but they require transparency and clear, consistent, contact. This was not the initial circumstances of the proposal. With limited details regarding the actual changes being proposed and tangible, quantitative reasons for why these changes will be beneficial, it is difficult for conservation authorities to understand or even accept what is being proposed.

Most permitting processes are efficiently tracked and managed on time already by local conservation authorities with HCA having 94% of permits being processed in time in 2024, and CVC having 99% of its permits processed in time for 2024. The motivation for standardizing permitting procedures is unclear. What benefits we will see are unclear. Being told, “this is good for the environment and for you,” is like being asked to believe in Santa Claus. It is infantilizing and disrespectful to constituents. It is an abuse of government authority. Education is a necessary and essential part of democracy. When a decision is made, it should be made with a justification that does not insult the people it is made for in how little it is explained.