I would like to register my…

I would like to register my opposition to some key changes proposed to the Ontario Heritage Act in Bill 23 that pose a serious threat to our built heritage in the province. Specifically, the proposed changes requiring listed properties to be dropped from local heritage registers if they cannot be designated within two years makes no sense to me. Such a proposal seriously undermines the decades of work done by volunteer organizations to identify and protect listed properties. We should be doing more in this province to preserve our built culture, not just those structures that are architecturally outstanding. Requiring that properties meet two, rather than one, of the criteria for designation will effectively make it much more difficult to preserve buildings "caught in the middle" whose significance or historic associations to the community may be more modest. Taken together, these proposals could wipe hundreds of properties off local heritage registries and make it more difficult to preserve important heritage structures.
I am a bit dumbfounded that it is the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, directly responsible for protecting our heritage, that seems to be willing to tear up the Ontario Heritage Act with this new legislation. This proposed bill seems more like a direct attack on how we identify, value and preserve our heritage for future generations. The amendments to the Heritage Act contained in it should be dropped.