Opinion | We’ve destroyed so much Indigenous legacy already. How much more is it OK to take? – The Spec
May 9, 2025
The system proposed by Bill 5 will create a situation in which settler resting places will be protected better than Indigenous ones.
For 40 years, I’ve worked as a consulting archeologist, ensuring archeological sites and cemeteries in Ontario are not destroyed by construction projects.
Before the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA) was passed in 1975, Indigenous heritage and burials were routinely bulldozed. Sometimes tumbled human remains were left in place and are now sitting under peoples’ decks or sidewalks in places like Baby Point or Withrow Avenue in Toronto. It was morally repugnant from a settler standpoint and a terrible source of anguish from an Indigenous one.
