The Government of Ontario…

Re: 019-0021

The Government of Ontario has proposed changes to the Ontario Heritage Act through Schedule 11 of Bill 108. Specifically, a change is proposed for heritage designations under Part IV of the OHA. Instead of a review of a proposed designation by the Conservation Review Board, there would be a binding appeal to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.

This means that local councils will no longer have the last word on:
1) What constitutes a cultural heritage property of value to the community, and
2) the recognition and protection of that resource.

This is a change from the way designation has worked in Ontario for decades. It will discourage heritage protection and conservation while doing nothing to improve or streamline the designation process. Authority given to LPAT can undo the work of democratically elected councils and trained heritage planning staff. LPAT members are not required to have any background in heritage or an understanding of the values of the community for which they are making decisions.

In short, Schedule 11 of Bill 108 should be withdrawn. The current regulations work and provide criteria that help ensure communities are objective and consistent across Ontario. If a system isn’t broken, don’t fix it – at least not without consultation with heritage groups such as ACO and Ontario’s municipalities.