I'm writing to express my…

I'm writing to express my strong opposition to this proposal, which further undermines the power and efficacy of local conservation authorities. The provincial government has already weakened these authorities, through the "Updating the Conservation Authorities Act" of 2020 and more recently through the passing of the omnibus Bill 5, the "Protect Ontario by Unleashing the Economy Act" in 2025, which created the so-called Special Economic Zones to exempt favoured investors and developers from various regulations and environmental protections. The provincial government has generally weakened environmental regulations and the autonomy of municipal and regional governing authorities vis-a-vis the province, making this latest proposal, to consolidate and reduce the number of conservation authorities, redundant as well as ill-advised. I am continually baffled by the lengths to which this government goes to interfere with local decision-making and to implement a top-down approach to managing the affairs of this province, but this attack on regional conservation authorities is rather shocking even in the current context. Conservation authorities are essential to the protection of the health of our water systems, wetlands and local flora - all of which are essential to the health of human communities as well. To take an obvious example, it is the conservation authorities that set guidelines and limitations to guide development in such a way as to mitigate flooding. We have learned the hard way in this country and this province that unregulated, short-term, profit-first development creates real harm to all of us. I hope you will reconsider this short-sighted and ill advised plan to reduce and consolidate Ontario's conservation authorities