Will Bill 23 kill heritage protections?: Spacing, Nov. 18, 2022

An excerpt from a Nov. 18, 2022 Spacing article about Bill 23 reads:

But there is a greater need to be considered when we look at how the province is manipulating the Ontario Heritage Act. The law is a dinosaur when it comes to considering what heritage means to the culture of Ontario. From the 1970s to the present, the idea of what might be considered heritage has expanded. No longer is it simply significant landmark buildings. Heritage is now environmental — a streetscape, an open space, a neon sign, or the ramshackle shops in Kensington Market.

In contemporary Canadian culture, many things can be understood to have cultural or heritage value. Heritage is no longer as simple as the Ontario Heritage Act would like it to be. In fact, with consideration of Indigenous Reconciliation and Black Lives Matter, as well as many new immigrant communities, even newer aspects of heritage are being revealed.

We need to supplement the limited resources of the Ontario Heritage Act with a stronger recognition and respect for the diversity that exists in our culture, and the need for dialogue on heritage values. The changes proposed in the More Homes, Built Faster Act are a backward step.

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