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DEH CHO - Leaders in the Deh Cho are concerned the proposed plan to merge regional boards will negatively affect services in and dilute community representation.

"I think it's a really terrible idea," said President Marie Lafferty of the Fort Simpson Metis Nation. Lafferty said she's not sure how the new system would work.

Each of the existing boards already has a lot of work. If the boards merged there would be too much work for one board, she said.

"I know I wouldn't want to sit on a board like that," said Lafferty. "I think it's just too much."

Chief Isadore Simon of the Jean Marie River First Nation is concerned the board mergers will mean an unequal representation for communities.

Board members are more likely to voice the concerns from their community and support initiatives for it, said Simon. If a community doesn't have representation on the board, it could be overlooked, he added.

In Kakisa Chief Lloyd Chicot said he didn't have enough information about the merger to comment fully.

Chicot did say that if the boards merge he expects it will mean downsizing, especially in the area of education.

"It would take away from what we have here in the community," he said.