Community Heritage Ontario …

Community Heritage Ontario (CHO) makes this submission on Bill 257 to express the concern of Ontario’s municipal heritage committees about the inclusion of Schedule 3 in the Bill. Schedule 3 would amend section 47 of the Planning Act exempting Minister’s Orders (both zoning and subdivision) from complying with the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) except in the Greenbelt Area. This exemption would apply retroactively to all Minister’s Orders.

CHO is the Ontario association of municipal heritage committees. Such committees, consisting largely of volunteers, are established throughout the province by municipal councils under the Ontario Heritage Act and assist councils in the protection and conservation of cultural heritage resources.

The PPS, Section 2.6, requires that significant heritage resources and archaeological sites be conserved in any planning application for development. We are concerned that the proposed exemption could jeopardize the conservation of significant heritage resources. Further, CHO maintains that the province should be held to the same standard of care for heritage resources that municipalities, corporations and private citizens are required to observe.

We recommend that either:

1. Schedule 3 be removed in its entirety from Bill 257;

or

2. Schedule 3 be amended to include the following clause:

“Cultural Heritage and Archaeology

(1.3) Despite subsection (1.1), clause 3 (5) (a) in respect to Cultural Heritage and Archaeology policies applies throughout the province and always has applied to any part of an order made under clause (1) (a) of this section.”

and the existing clause (1.3) Retroactive Effect, be renumbered to (1.4).