While I am in favour of most…

While I am in favour of most of the proposed changes to the Ontario Heritage Act, I do have major concerns about the following:

Exemption for properties

66.1 (1) Subject to the regulations, if any, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by order,
exempt a property from the application of a requirement described in subsection
(2) if the Lieutenant Governor in Council is of the opinion that such exemption
could potentially advance one or more of the following provincial priorities:

1. Transit.

2. Housing.

3. Health and Long-Term Care.

4. Other infrastructure.

5. Such other priorities as may be prescribed.

It is absolutely imperative that all lands undergo cultural heritage assessments in advance of any work completed. The Province should not be able to bypass this work to fast-track projects of any kind and should be leading by example, demonstrating due diligence in the completion of the proper cultural and natural heritage assessment work. This work also should be including CONSULTATION with First Nations on whose traditional lands/waters these activities are taking place - whether or not treaties or other established rights exist.

A major missing component of the OHA is the Consultation and Engagement component with local First Nations peoples. The Province need only to look to other legislation and grass-roots initiatives in other parts of Canada as an example. What about updating the OHA to include relevant components of Bill 76 and the Federal United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act? Why is it a priority to update the OHA in response to what is going on in the United States and to supposedly BOOST the economy of the province but not to update it to include other relevant legislation changes in the lands known today as Canada?

Finally, I am very concerned about the sections of the OHA which outline "any artifact taken under the authority of a licence or a permit, or any material in an archaeological collection, be deposited in such public institution as the Minister may determine, to be held in trust for the people of Ontario, or deposited with an Indigenous community." Who will be doing the background work to identify the appropriate public institution or Indigenous community with which to place belongings (artifacts) and other material culture remains? Will there be funding available to support ancestral Indigenous communities to operate repositories for ancestral belongings if that is their preference? Who will be connecting and consulting and engaging with ancestral Indigenous communities?

On the flip side, will the public institutions where belongings and material culture remains are to be held in trust as designated by the Minister also receiving additional funding for this repository work? This funding needs to be ongoing to support the sector that doesn't even pay living wages given the limited funding available and consistent cutbacks to the cultural sector. Where is the funding coming from to support this ongoing curation crisis and the necessary engagement with and support for ancestral Indigenous communities? This work takes very special skills and relationship building that the Province and many public institutions (museums/repositories) do not have a great track record with. How will the appropriate people be recruited and trained for this work? Same questions go for the Inspectors that will be appointed by the Minister.

Please don't take these comments lightly. Please speak to the experts in the archaeological, cultural/natural heritage management, museum/cultural centre/repository fields who participate in this work before making legislative changes. I recommend you include experts from other provinces/territories to speak to their experiences before any further changes are implemented.