The More Homes Built Faster…

The More Homes Built Faster Act proposes various changes to the Ontario Heritage Act. Three changes should be particularly alarming for Indigenous communities in the province: 1) New Section 25.2 (7) of the Act 'will authorize the Lieutenant Governor in Council to, by order, exempt the Crown, a ministry or a prescribed public body from having to comply with the heritage standards and guidelines in respect of a particular property, if the Lieutenant Governor in Council is of the opinion that such exemption could potentially advance one or more provincial priorities', such as housing, infrastructure, or any other priority that is deemed significant. In practice, this would mean that any lands of importance to an Indigenous community could be developed if it is in the interest of the province, regardless of protection at a municipal or provincial level.

2) Several fundamental changes to the process of 'listing' properties on municipal registers have been outlined in the Build More Homes Faster Act. A register is a tool used by municipalities to trigger heritage assessments on properties that have been deemed to have potential heritage value but have not yet been assessed by the municipality. If the Act is passed thousands of properties currently understood to have potential value to communities, including Indigenous communities, will be removed from the register within two years, with no mechanism to evaluate and conserve their value if an alteration of the site is proposed. This could mean that development may occur on lands currently used as Indigenous hunting grounds, sites that serve as wayfinding points, harvesting grounds, and ceremonial sites that do not include burials. With no mechanism to object on grounds of cultural heritage, Indigenous communities may be left with few options for protection of these areas.

3) A change is proposed to ensure fewer cultural resources are identified in the province, accomplished by raising the bar of evaluation under Ontario Regulation 9/06. As proposed in the More Homes Built Faster Act, a cultural resource will be required to meet two criteria outlined in Ontario Regulation 9/06, the tool used when evaluating cultural heritage in the province. This will mean that many heritage resources may not meet the threshold, even though they have value to a community. For Indigenous communities, this will result in a further loss of control over culturally significant spaces or places, which will be in danger of removal to privilege settler development.

The Chiefs of Ontario have unequivocally stated that the More Homes Built Faster Act is in clear violation of First Nations constitutionally protected treaty rights. Substantial heritage sites in the province, and particularly Indigenous heritage sites, will be lost if the changes to the Ontario Heritage Act are passed as written.