Dear Members of the…

Dear Members of the Legislature, 

I am writing to voice my concerns and opposition to the proposed amendments to the Heritage Act under Schedule 7 of the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025. As an Ontario archaeologist, I am particularly disturbed by the new section 66.1 of the bill, which would exempt properties that could potentially advance provincial priorities from undergoing archaeological assessment. Archaeology in Ontario is already a destructive process with only a small percentage of sites saved from development, the majority of sites are only preserved through the recording that takes place during the archaeological process. Exempting properties from archaeological assessment would permanently erase the thousands of Indigenous and Settler sites that exist in Ontario. The Heritage Act was enacted when the people of Ontario were concerned about the destruction of cultural heritage due to vast development in the mid-1970s; they called on the government to take action. Is this government willing to destroy the heritage that makes up this province and disregard why the Heritage Act was enacted and included in the Environmental Assessment Act in the first place?

Additionally, Bill 5 would be a colossal setback in Truth and Reconciliation as it would allow for the destruction of Indigenous history in this province, as the majority of sites consulting archaeologists are Indigenous. As well as increasing a colonial government’s power to determine the archaeological significance of a site, this bill threatens Indigenous sovereignty. Surely the government would rather increase our knowledge and understanding of the stewards who took care of this land 13,000 years before we Settlers arrived and aided us when our sovereignty was threatened by the United States in 1812.

While I have only been in the world of archaeology consulting for a short while, I have learned that the delay in development is not due to archaeological fieldwork but rather the Ministry's slow review and approval of site reports. Often, the Ministry spends up to 6 months to a year approving reports, and this is where the real delay is happening. Therefore, I implore the government to improve its internal review operations before it tries to dismantle the cultural heritage and environmental industries. 
Bill 5 would put my job at risk and that of thousands of other archaeologists and Indigenous peoples who work as site monitors and consultants. I understand the bill is trying to alleviate the housing crisis and soften the blow of tariffs. As someone in their mid-20s, I would love to be able to afford a home in the near future, but never at the expense of Indigenous peoples' heritage and the thousands of Ontarians that are employed by the "red tape".

Archaeology is not red tape, it is an essential process that allows us to understand and learn from the past to improve the future. I implore you to reconsider the proposed amendments to the Heritage Act under Schedule 7 of the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025.