If projects are exempted…

If projects are exempted from archaeological assessment there will be no way to determine if exempted projects impact a major archaeological site or burial site until the projects have destroyed them. Housing, transportation, and mining are industries that have substantial ground disturbance and are among the most likely to impact archaeological resources by virtue of the large areas these projects tend to cover. Additionally, archaeological assessments are often the vehicle through which Indigenous communities are engaged in development projects on their lands. Removing archaeological assessments will exclude Indigenous communities from having a say in development.

Instead of damaging the archaeological assessment industry and Ontario's archaeological resources, the government should instead focus on improving review times with the MCM. Currently archaeological reports can take the MCM several years to review and can result in significant project delays. The review process should be truncated by only requiring full MCM reviews when archaeological resources are found following Stage 2 archaeological assessment. The MCM should rely more upon the expertise and professional judgment of licensed archaeologists. Few other industries have as much government regulation and the MCM review process is the primary cause of delays and problems associated with archaeology.

Finally, the Conservative government is supposed to be pro-business but seems quick to through away all the people employed in the consultant archaeology industry. The current requirements create jobs and helps the economy. The government should not only cater to wealthy developers at the expense of Ontario's historical resources and the industries that have developed to help protect them.