To whom it may concern in…

To whom it may concern in the current provincial government,

I am an archeologist in the cultural heritage sectore here in Ontario. While I understand the anxieties caused by the current housing crisis, rushing along what has been considered vital planning and assessment will just damage the landscape for the future with no real gain.

As unfortunate as it may be to hear, building new suburbs on the outskirts of small towns has only hurt the province so far. Not only is there not enough infrastructure to support those people, but the process is relatively slow and piecemeal. A few hundred, maybe thousands get built at a time, but compared to the tens of thousands of homeless people in Ontario, plus the newly created homeless as these crises go on, and the immigration of people, both economic migrants and desperate refugees, it's just not enough. And this is all on top of the fact these newly built homes are typically of poor quality, and seem to fall apart as people move into them.

What needs to happen is more high density housing in areas like Toronto and the GTA in general. Not only are they the areas with the infrastructure for people, they're where all the jobs are. The main issue would then be a drop in housing prices, but given the fact so many young people need homes, on top of our homeless crises and the immigration coming in, it would be the fastest way to supply the current and growing demand. Further, it is land that does not need the same level of environmental or cultural heritage assessment, it would be quicker to get these projects off the ground even in the short term.

On the cultural and environmental side of things, our landscape will be dredged. Without cultural assessment we will lose vital knowledge of the history of the land, much like we did up until we adopted our current standards and guidelines. The fact so much preservation has been able to occure now is of great cultural value, especially in areas that are suspected to be undisturbed by modern agriculture or building. Unique artifacts and rare technologies and techniques previously unknown or lost can be uncovered in these places. Without environmental assessment, the obvious will happen. Eventually we will build where we shouldn't, and either damage the environment irreparably, or get people hurt or sick, either in a disaster prone area or place where waste may have been dumped.

Why take all these chances when there are better more obvious solutions to take? I thank you for your time reading this, and I hope the provincial government reconsiders these provisions.