The Ford government has confirmed it is amalgamating Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities into just nine, a move critics fear will reduce key environmental protections and the government argues is necessary to provide “more consistent services.”

Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Todd McCarthy, announced the changes at an event on Tuesday, marking a minor shift from a previous plan to reduce the number of conservation authorities down to just seven.

He said the change came after a wave of feedback from the public, municipal governments and even within the Progressive Conservative caucus.

“We’ve landed at nine as the consolidated figure with the boundaries that have been outlined,” McCarthy said. “We had a problem with fragmentation and inconsistency. We identified the solution to that problem. We listened after initially proposing seven, and we’ve arrived at nine.”

He said the current system is too large, has too much duplication and results in a fragmented system, which can be difficult to navigate to obtain permits.

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“We listened and used feedback from last fall’s consultations to refine and strengthen our plan, including optimizing regional boundaries to better reflect local needs, knowledge and relationships,” McCarthy said.

The government said reducing the number of conservation authorities would “support the building of new homes and infrastructure,” as well as protect against flooding.

McCarthy said his office received 14,000 messages and consultations about its decision to reduce the number of conservation authorities.

The new conservation authorities will be:

• Central Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority
• Eastern Lake Erie Regional Conservation Authority
• Eastern Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority
• Lake Huron Regional Conservation Authority
• Northeastern Ontario Regional Conservation Authority
• Northwestern Ontario Regional Conservation Authority
• St. Lawrence River Regional Conservation Authority
• Western Lake Erie Regional Conservation Authority
• Western Lake Ontario Regional Conservation Authority

The new structure will also see the creation of an Ontario-wide conservation authority, which will help to handle a transition from 36 to nine conservation authorities over the next year.

McCarthy has repeatedly said his plans to reduce the number of conservation authorities will not result in job losses, despite the fact the mergers will mean fewer senior leaders are needed.

A housing law from the Progressive Conservative government a few years ago reduced the role of conservation authorities, including limiting the areas they can consider in development permissions, removing factors such as pollution and conservation of the land.

— With a file from The Canadian Press

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