I oppose this amendment…

I oppose this amendment. Archaeology should be a provincial priority within itself and the province should not be exempt from the heritage act. The heritage act is in place to protect every Ontarian’s cultural history and informs our place of being and provides crucial knowledge not only to history but to inform developers so better decisions can be made about their projects. Furthermore the heritage act is crucial for reconciliation efforts with Indigenous peoples. For too long have Canadians disregard the Indigenous community, their heritage, while provincial projects should benefit the local economy it’s should not come at the further loss and destruction of the cultural heritage of the original owners of this land. As it pertains to development exemptions to the heritage act not only take jobs away from hard working Ontarian archaeologists but their accompanying Indigenous site monitors. The ability to make exemptions to the heritage act will also increase the potential of corruption between government and land developers. No one should be above the law. Bypassing archaeology is not in the best interest of the people of Ontario, our tax dollars should be paying for high quality infrastructure and taking short cuts by disregarding our heritage, damaging our relationships with Indigenous nations who’s lands we live on and taking away job opportunities from both archaeologists and Indigenous consultants hurts Ontario more in the long run. No short cuts, the government should do things right and that starts by following the law.