I ask and beg that the Bill…

I ask and beg that the Bill amendments for the Ontario Heritage Act are not passed. This bill will shatter existing relationships and attempts at reconciliation with Canadian Indigenous groups and will deeply affect the Canadian environment we love so dearly. Mining and development companies will swoop in like vultures, taking advantage of every amendment and gladly polluting and destroying extremely sensitive land. It has happened countless times and will happen again, as companies will make water undrinkable, air unbreathable and hide behind the facade of feigned ignorance. They will destroy forests, violate sacred land, all to enrich themselves. As an archeological field technician, this extends even further to the history of this country. When being developed, this country was built by bulldozing the remains of indigenous settlements, spiritual sites and literal burials. The sites I work on have indigenous ancestors' bones, mixed in with concrete, plastic and sewage. There are tenuous attempts at reconciliation through the original Canadian Heritage Act, as we do our best to respectfully reconnect the bones of indigenous ancestors to their nations, and allow their remains a dignified rest.

I often explain the importance of this concept through a thought exercise. Imagine your great-grandfather was buried in a place important to him, in the bend of a river under his favourite tree he played under as a kid. All his life, a nation prosecuted him for who he was, hating his kind, taking his culture, his land, his home. Imagine that later, a company comes along with the aim to build a hotel chain and enrich itself greatly. Now imagine the same nation that so greatly hated and wronged your ancestor spit upon his grave one last time, allowing the company to bulldoze his tree, pollute the river, destroy his bones and cast them across the ground to be used as construction fill. Such disrespect is unthinkable, yet well within the bounds of possibility if this bill is repealed.

I beg that this bill remain, and that out of the kindness of our hearts and love for our Canadian country, the suggested changes are rejected.