Bill 23’s changes to the…

Bill 23’s changes to the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA) will be a giant step backward for the conservation of cultural heritage in Ontario.

The negative effects of Bill 23 will be especially acute in rural municipalities, which do not have the capacity to respond to Bill 23’s OHA requirements, and whose often humble built heritage does not always meet more than one criteria of O.Reg. 9/06.

Bill 23, Schedule 6, will upset and set back Prince Edward County's important work on a Cultural Heritage Master Plan, which builds upon the foundational research undertaken for the 1984 Historical Architectural Survey of Prince Edward (HASPE) and subsequently published as The Settler’s Dream.

Prince Edward County, like many other rural municipalities, does not have a heritage planner and has a challenge hiring regular planners. The County does not have the capacity – paid or volunteer – to go through the designation process for all the properties currently on the Heritage Register, let alone additional properties identified through the Cultural Heritage Master Plan process.

Bill 23, Schedule 6, will undermine our efforts as a community to conserve the County’s heritage resources for all Ontarians. I urge you to delete from Bill 23 all changes to the Ontario Heritage Act.