Schedule 7 of Bill 5…

Schedule 7 of Bill 5 proposes to exempt developments from archaeological assessments if the Ontario government is of the opinion that an exemption “could potentially advance one or more of the following provincial priorities”:
● Transit;
● Housing;
● Health and Long-Term Care;
● Other infrastructure; and
● Such other priorities as may be prescribed.

By exempting infrastructure and housing projects from archaeological assessments, the Ontario government will be backtracking on Indigenous reconciliation progress made since the Oka crisis of 1990 as well as the 2006 standoff in Caledonia in 2006.

Archaeological (and environmental) assessments often trigger the duty to consult with Indigenous communities and First Nations governments. Undertaking archaeological assessments processes is also one of the ways that governments uphold the Honour of the Crown. Destroying undisturbed Indigenous historic sites in the name of economic progress would set Ontario back decades in Indigenous and economic reconciliation.

Bill 5 says properties containing cemeteries and significant archaeological sites won't be exempted from archaeological assessments -- but it's a Catch-22. We can't exempt something if we don't know it's there. And the only way we can know it's there is an archaeological investigation.

This proposal seriously undermines Ontario's duty "to duly consult First Nations on decisions and actions that may adversely impact asserted or established Aboriginal or treaty rights."