Bill-5 seems short-sighted…

Bill-5 seems short-sighted. It does not take into account the potential long-term harm that can be done, including the destruction of farmlands, which is what many proposed infrastructure projects will end up repurposing. With a growing population, we need to be able to sustain the population for a long time after the completion of the projects. Should the farmland be destroyed, it will not be available for when we need it in the future, and we will need to rely upon other countries, which, over the past months, we have learned are not always reliable.

Another long-term effect is the environmental impact. With the location of many urban centers and the destruction of areas essential for water absorption, such as the Greenbelt, water may run into these urban centers, such as Toronto, and cause significant damage through flooding to Provincial, private and corporate properties. Ultimately, this will counteract the good of building new houses quickly without proper consideration by negatively affecting existing developed areas in the near future. Another environmental impact is on endangered or at-risk animals and plants and their possible extinction should proper environmental assessments not be done per this proposed Bill. The ecosystem we live in and are a part of is already unbalanced and can quickly be destroyed by the short-term vision of this Bill. Humans heavily rely upon a balanced ecosystem, which can have long-term effects that negatively impact the population's overall well-being.

Additionally, this proposed Bill adds another barrier to rebuilding already damaged and fragile relationships with Indigenous individuals and the government of Ontario and Canada. Currently, the acts of reconciliation done by ALL levels of government are merely performative and do little to no good in helping solve the real roots of the problem. These problems are broken and disrespected treaties, unethical treatment from a colonial system, the disregard for land claims, and ignoring oral histories where the community hold vital information. One key way that many Indigenous people participate in reclaiming their histories is through their engagement with archaeology. Should the amount of archaeological assessment be reduced for the provincial government's short-term goals, this reduces how the Indigenous population can prove land claims and reclaim their histories. This reduction of archaeological assessment and its inherent reduction in Indigenous community consultation forced by the government through this Bill reads as the government saying Indigenous history, which the government has painfully and unethically stripped from them for centuries, does not matter. Their history does, in fact, matter. Material culture is one way Indigenous people connect with their ancestors, as it is meaningful and tangible. It also helps to prove land claims that have been ignored through the COLONIAL system as they are not written but recorded through oral histories.

Many of the archaeological sites are in areas that may, to untrained individuals, seem to have no importance when this is not the case at all! Should these sites be disregarded in any capacity, they will destroy non-written history forever. The Bill would continue the colonial agenda that the government should actively try to dismantle and avoid. In addition to destroying pre-contact archaeological sites and material culture, it will also destroy settler history. Both types of sites and the material held within them are essential to preserve either through excavation, or avoid and protect practices. With early archaeological assessments (stage 1 and 2 results), enough information would be provided for developers to avoid and protect the site while saving money, minimizing the irreversible damage, and still building the infrastructure in an area more suitable for the time constraints.

This proposed Bill would remove jobs from thousands of people within the Province, and there would be less of a need for these specially trained people (archaeologists, Indigenous community advocates, and environmentalists). Continuing the above-mentioned types of assessments does not mean red tape; it means the continuation of employment (both before and during the construction of these proposed projects) and the continuation of tax dollars going to the government, as the government does not pay for most of these types of projects instead it is private clients. Ultimately, this helps the economy and keeps unemployment from increasing.

To address the housing issue, I urge the Province to build urban areas up rather than out. This will help reduce all the above-mentioned long-term problems while quickly addressing the crisis. It will be the most responsible thing to do for the economy, environment, Indigenous relations and rights, and the conservation of material culture and tangible history.