I am writing because I am…

I am writing because I am opposed to “Bill 66, Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, 2018” along with the proposed regulations associated with the “Open-for-business planning tool” My expertise is in archaeology and cultural heritage management and these proposals could negatively, and dramatically, impact Ontario’s cultural heritage along with negatively impacting those employed in identifying, preserving, and protecting that heritage. Beyond negatively impacting Ontario’s cultural heritage, these proposals also seem to put the people and environment of Ontario at risk.
The biggest issue with these proposals is in their underlying philosophy. The philosophy evident in the proposals is that the solution to real issues is to reduce regulations. Regulations exist for a reason, and these proposals do not take into account the reasons those regulations exist. Regulations may be improved, but they shouldn’t be removed without further addressing their reason for existing in the first place. The philosophy underlying these proposals demonstrates lazy government. Rather than addressing problems through well informed processes, these proposals attempt to address a limited number of issues while simultaneously disregarding issues which the existing regulations address.
I would fully support improving regulations to benefit everyone, but these regulations seem to only benefit a few at the cost of the health and safety of people, the environment, and cultural heritage.
I have worked with legislative planning around issues of cultural and environmental heritage in the United States, United Kingdom, and now Canada. These are the worst proposals I have seen in my career. Please work to keep this legislation from passing. Thank you for your time and consideration.