With regards to proposed…

With regards to proposed changes to the Ontario Heritage Act, this legislation will gut the mechanisms for discovering and protecting Ontario's archaeological heritage by allowing the Province to remove the requirement for undertaking archaeological assessments in advance of almost all development projects - the so-called provincial priorities cover 99% of the situations where archaeological assessments are currently undertaken. Without an archaeological assessment, known archaeological sites are rarely flagged in advance of development and new sites will not be discovered. Self-reporting by developers virtually never happens and in the few instances when it does, it usually occurs after significant destruction of the archaeological site has occurred. Once destroyed, the information an archaeological site contained is lost forever. Any proposed "safeguards" are, essentially, to be developed at some future date - seemingly well after the legislation will come into effect. The timeline for consultation and determining any exemptions is completely unrealistic. It took years to develop the "Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists" that were implemented in 2011. Draft "Standards and Guidelines for Indigenous Engagement" in the archaeological assessment process were also introduced in 2011 but have never been finalized by the Province because it could never figure out how to deal with this complex issue. The proposed legislation appears to completely disregard any requirement for Indigenous Engagement. The MCM archaeology unit has been seriously understaffed for decades and many (most) of the staff lack the experience or competence to undertake "investigations" on properties that may be of concern. The 'Minister' takes months to sign off on simple, routine matters such as archaeological license renewals but will suddenly be able to instigate meaningful investigations and other protections in a timely manner - hardly.
In short, the proposed changes to the Ontario Heritage Act will ensure the destruction of significant archaeological sites - both known and yet to be discovered - and will essentially wipe out the past 35 years of work to establish a provincial archaeological assessment process for development projects which, despite its limitations and shortcomings, has resulted in the identification, recording and/or protection of thousands of archaeological sites that represent the shared heritage of the people of Ontario and beyond.