As an archaeologist in…

As an archaeologist in Ontario, Bill 5 would demolish the industry in which I have built my career. I have worked in this industry for over 15 years, I have worked in the field, as a field technician and have moved up to being a Project Manager, with a small firm based out of Toronto. That small firm, would be decimated if Bill 5 passes. 90% of our business, in the archaeological industry, are housing developments and infrastructure developments. By eliminating the need for archaeological assessments, you are losing Indigenous history, culture, and ancestry. Indigenous archaeological resources are not documented in the way Settler resources are (and even much of our settler history will be lost), burials, ossuaries, villages, hunting campsites, traditional hunting and trapping trails and lines, and MANY early Settler sites will become lost. This, in my opinion, is an assault on this history of Canada and of Ontario, and mostly importantly, the Indigenous Peoples of the province and the Country.

The archaeological process starts so early in the overall development process, that I would confidently say that we are not part of the problem holding up development. We ensure that we are being cost effective to our clients, that we are being respectful to our Indigenous communities - who we work closely with - and that we meet expected client deadlines.

Unfortunately, the biggest issue with archaeology holding up developments is the unnecessary hold up of archaeological reports from the Ministry of citizenship and multiculturalism (MCM). Largely, we have having reports reviews and sent back for revisions for clerical and administrative issues that should not hold up the development process or schedule, and currently is our biggest issue. There has been minimal communication from the MCM, and they are asking for things, that frankly are outside their purview in order to accept reports into the register of archaeological reports, and deem them compliant. If there are no issues with the archaeological work, then reports should not be held up, for minor editing issues. And these are the issues that should be streamlined, or removed - not the need for the archaeological process to document Ontarios history.

Losing environmental regulations, or having the ability to override them, is a slippery slope to seeing mass extinction of species, and a decimation of the beautiful green spaces that we have. Not to mention, that it is absolutely not unleashing Ontario's economy, but rather would result in archaeologists, biologists, ecologists, and anyone else in the environmental industry, losing their jobs. There would be an influx in unemployment, and at Fords discretion, the developers would continue to get richer and destroy all aspects of Ontario. With homelessness and unemployment already being a massive issue, there is no way, that unleashing our economy would do anything but exacerbate an already growing problem.

Doug Ford should not have this type of power, he should not be able to determine who’s culture is more important, which species live or die, and he should absolutely not hold the power to determine the fate of my career, to line his pockets. I have to worked extremely hard for the last 15 years to see greed for money and power destroy everything I have built.