I am incredibly concerned…

I am incredibly concerned about the fact that if this Bill is passed, it will result in the complete destruction of untold numbers of archaeological sites across Ontario, and the irreversible loss of our shared heritage.

If this Bill were to be passed, the Province could exempt properties from needing to have environmental and archaeological assessments done prior to any ground disturbance. It says that properties which could be considered priorities and so exempt from such assessments include those for transit, housing, healthcare, infrastructure, and 'other' - so, frankly, development of any kind could be considered a 'priority' and thus exempt.

The vast, vast majority of archaeological sites found in Ontario are found during the archaeological assessment process that is triggered prior to changes in land use or in proposed developments. A Loyalist family's first cabin, a mid-nineteenth century Irish emmigrant's farmstead, a pre-contact Huron village, an unmarked cemetery... the sites that make up Ontario's history are discovered in farm fields, in woodlots, in backyards, under parking lots, under roads, every day across the province, and they're found because of our current legislation that requires archaeological assessments to happen on properties before and development happens. If practically any property can just be given exemption from needing archaeological assessments, these sites around going to be destroyed. No one will even know they're there until the bulldozers and excavators have gone through, and then it will be too late.

The Bill attempts to make it sound as though sites will be protected by saying that properties that have burials and 'significant archaeological sites' cannot be exempted from archaeological assessments. However, as stated above, sites like these aren't usually known about beforehand. They are almost always ONLY found through the current requirement for archaeological assessments. How can an archaeological site be protected if it's only found after a bulldozer has blasted through it? How can an unmarked pioneer cemetery be protected if it's only found after an excavator has dragged up and crushed skeletons?

I can appreciate the Bill's broader intention in trying to bolster Ontario's economy so as to weather the troubles of broader world issues. However, I cannot agree that the cost to this protection is the irreversible loss of our heritage. Please do not allow this Bill to pass.