To Save a Butterfly, Must One Kill It? The Historic Places Initiative in a Rural Context

This paper examines the findings of the Rideau Heritage Initiative (RHI), a 2006 Ontario provincial summer pilot project, conducted in the predominantly rural municipalities of the Rideau Canal Corridor that was designed to advance the heritage conservation goals of the Historic Places Initiative (HPI). It seeks to show that rather than freezing places in time, […]

Regional Borders and Cultural Heritage Landscapes in Ontario

Cultural heritage landscapes in Ontario reflect historic settlement patterns, archaeological resources, cultural influences, architectural styles, and historic events. They are perhaps best understood as geographies that retain cultural and/or historical value to communities, narrowly or broadly conceived. However, these resources are preserved using legislation created by the Ontario Government and exercised by municipalities operating within […]

The Niagara Escarpment: Exploring Bioregional Approaches to Cultural Heritage Landscape Management

Ontario’s 2005 and 2014 Provincial Policy Statements (PPS) mandate that “significant cultural heritage landscapes shall be conserved.” This, however, has not led to great advancement in strategic heritage planning, nor has policy compliance improved substantially since 2005. This presentation will explore whether Ontario’s PPS and its associated definitions for cultural heritage landscapes should be supported […]

A Biocultural Approach for Managing Transborder Cultural Heritage Landscapes

This chapter within Borders, Culture, and Globalization: A Canadian Perspective edited by Victor Konrad and Melissa Kelly, explores the relationship between borders and the conservation of natural and cultural heritage resources in a municipal context. Intergovernmental researchers and policymakers have recently linked conservation of natural and cultural heritage to the protection of biocultural diversity, defined […]

Bill 23: This Game of Chicken Will Have a Bad Ending

The Ontario Government’s introduction of Bill 23, the More Homes, Built Faster Act, 2022, proposes a series of significant changes to the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA). All of the proposed amendments require swift critique and analysis. Most concerning are those to Section 27 of the OHA. These proposed changes, while incredibly substantial, are at the same time, short on […]

Archaeology and the Commemoration of the Irish Famine: A Report from Kingston

Across eastern Canada, Irish Famine commemoration sites remind us that geopolitical tensions are not a modern phenomenon, and they can have horrific consequences. The oldest memorial was erected in 1859, within living memory of the Famine, by railway workers to commemorate the thousands who died in fever sheds at Point St. Charles, Québec. In Kingston, […]