Ontario Needs A Cabinet Minister Dedicated To Protecting & Preserving Heritage Sites In Our Communities

 “Heritage preservation has been a difficult walk uphill (in Ontario) and has been a neglected part of our culture.” –  Heritage Thorold (LACAC) Committee 

A Submission To Ontario’s Liberal Government from Pamela Minns and Heritage Thorold LACAC

Posted on Niagara At Large, January 5th, 2016

A Submission To Ontario’s Liberal Government from Pamela Minns and Heritage Thorold LACAC

(A Brief Foreword from Doug Draper, Niagara At Large – Pamela Minns and the other volunteers on Heritage Thorold LACAC (LACAC is an acronym for Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee) deserve a good deal of credit for caring enough about protrecting and preserving heritage sites in our communities to put together such a well-thought-out and detailed submission to the Ontario government.

The submission is a response to the Liberal Government of Premier Kathleen Wynne call for public input on what shape a strategy for embracing the arts, culture and heritage across Ontario should take for the future. The question is will the government take the input seriously since, as Pamela Minns has stressed for years, heritage issues have hardly ever been given the priority they deserve at the provincial level.

If you have any doubts about the correctness of Minns’ concern over how little respect heritage sites – even ones that have been designated as such by the province – get in Ontario, look no further than the community of Port Dalhousie in the Niagara, Ontario City of St. Catharines.

A decade ago, a group of developers submitted a plan to the city’s council and Ontario Municipal Board to tear down buildings, including the old Port Mansion, in what was already designated provincially as a ‘Heritage Conservation District’ and build a high-rise condo , year-round theatre for the arts and other features they promised would make Port Dalhousie a more vibrant place to live and do business for decades to come.

Despite volumes of concerns raised by local heritage groups and others, an OMB hearing officer approved the plan based on arguments that went beyond the board’s mandate to render judgements based on planning rules and the local newspaper (operating under different management at the time) cheered the condo project on as if they had a financial interest in it.

Go to Port Dalhousie today and all you see is a depression in the ground where the Port Mansion once was and where the developers said a tall condo building would be towering over the lakeshore by now. Stroll walkway just south and on the same block where the Port Mansion was and there are closed shops where the developers sold the community on the idea that the condo and theatre would serve as catalysts for keeping shops open and busy all year.

This is the current status of a provincially designated heritage district and through all of this, the provincial government let the OMB decision stand and the demolition happen.

So now we  wait and see how seriously the Ontario government takes calls from the Thorold group and other groups across the province that more be done to protect and preserve heritage areas.

Now here is the submission of Heritage Thorold on the need for heritage preservation to receive more priority at the Ontario cabinet level.)

First Culture Strategy, Heritage Aspect

Submitted by Heritage Thorold LACAC

Compiled by: Pamela J.Minns, Secretary – Treasurer

Heritage Thorold LACAC, December, 2015.

Introduction

This is submitted by someone who has had 30 years experience working as a volunteer at the grass root, attempting to preserve our built, cultural and natural heritage in Ontario. I have been the recipient of many awards for my work in heritage preservation, including Ontario Heritage Trust Award, Queen’s Golden Jubilee medal, Lieutenant Governor’s Award and Lifetime Achievement Award;  all of my efforts in the past have been directed towards the preservation of Ontario’s heritage.

What is Culture?

In order to tackle the development of a strategy for culture, it is necessary to define what we mean by “culture” ; it is understood that this word means – “arts, culture and heritage”.  The inclusion of heritage under the word culture is not fully understood by the general population and, therefore, should be considered as a separate entity.  Those involved  in “arts and culture” are not fully aware of the problems associated with “heritage preservation”, and the reverse is also true.

Ministry

We presently have a Minister who is in charge of “Tourism, Culture and Sport”, totally burying “heritage” in a ministry which is over-burdened with too many issues to manage the matter of heritage satisfactorily; as well, it appears that heritage is viewed as unimportant and in many ways a non-entity.  There is a great need for a Minister whose sole responsibility is “Heritage”. This would not only emphasize the importance of heritage but would give volunteers a leader whose prime interest is Ontario’s heritage—- if, in fact the provincial government is committed to heritage preservation; under the present circumstances, this fact is questionable.

Volunteers in the field feel as though the Province installed the Ontario Heritage Act in 1974, amended it through Bill #60 in 2005, published the “Tool Kit” in 2006, then deserted the very people who do the work at the grass roots to save Ontario’s heritage, and left them to fend for themselves. Some have given up, they are tired of the “fight” and feel unappreciated and unsupported !

Culture Strategy Advisory Group

In going over this group of 17 people, while these are all experienced people, only 3 have a vague connection to the matter of heritage; the emphasis is on arts and culture.  Someone who has experience in heritage over a number of years at the grass roots would be a desirable addition to this group, otherwise this part of culture will not be recognized or the implications of it not even fully understood.

Recognition of Heritage

“Heritage Day” (3^rd Monday in February) has been recognized and celebrated for many years.  Within the past few years, this day has been

entirely erased from the calendar by the province and replaced with “Family Day” – without explanation, again downgrading the importance of heritage in Ontario.  It is the unspoken word ! This day must be restored if heritage preservation is to have any meaning in this province.

Who works to preserve Ontario’s Heritage

Figures for 2014 show that there have been 6,600 by-laws passed in Ontario protecting the cultural heritage value of single properties under the Ontario Heritage Act and 18,500 properties protected in Heritage

Conservation Districts. Without committed and passionate volunteers, all of this would never have happened…. and furthermore, these people presently work without recognition or support !

Support for Volunteers

If these are the people working to preserve Ontario’s heritage so effectively, they should have the support of government to make, what is a difficult job, easier. Support has to start at the top. Presently there is a Ministry’s “Tool Kit” to guide them in their work;  in addition there is only one economic incentive in place – that is, a possible municipal tax break ranging from 10—40%;  this has been totally ineffective —- with 414 municipalities in Ontario, only 41 (9.9%) of these communities have bought into this program.

How Many MHCs are there in Ontario

Out of our 414 municipalities there are only 152 Municipal Heritage Committees (36.7%). It is understood that Community Heritage Ontario is the umbrella organization for these committees and part of their mandate is “to encourage the development of municipally-appointed heritage advisory committees”. There is a need for more of these committees in Ontario.  MHCs have been operating since the 1980s –after all these years there should be more of them than 36.7% of our communities in Ontario, and CHO should be actively engaged in increasing these numbers.

Measures to Change

Volunteers appointed to MHCs normally have no training and are guided only by experienced volunteers. If there are no experienced volunteers on the committee it will have no roadmap to guide it and….. it can fail.

Regular training sessions are needed for new members of committees, making it a condition of membership.

Designation Incentives – Designation usually means increased costs to the property owner – higher insurance rates, expensive cost of restoration, increased municipal taxes, etc. This means that incentives are needed to encourage designation in order to protect our built heritage.  Designated heritage properties should have a separate municipal tax class (lower rate) in order to create an incentive for the owners and to assist with what are normally high restoration costs.

Incentives – Case Study

The rejuvenation of Thorold’s business area is an example of how incentives can work – even small ones. The Region of Niagara and City of Thorold have had a downtown facade incentive program in place for a number of years and this has resulted in a complete make-over of our downtown area, increased business, interest in the City of Thorold as a whole, and the development of a great deal of community pride.  Downtown Thorold has become a destination !

Recognition – Owners of designated properties should also be recognized by the Minister when they choose to designate (plaque, scroll, letter), since they make a commitment to take on the responsibility of stewardship for protecting Ontario’s heritage for future generations.

Materials used for restoration should be supplied at a discounted cost; a list of available suppliers to be put together for this purpose. 

Conferences and Workshops which are held throughout Ontario are never attended by the Minister and, of course, should be. Absence shows

total lack of interest and support for heritage preservation and for the hard-working volunteers who work so passionately in this field.

Insurance on Designated Properties – needs to be addressed. At the present time some insurance companies can cancel insurance, double insurance rates, or refuse to cover designated or heritage properties.

The Matter of Schools – There has been much controversy in the past few years about the matter of school closures. Many of these schools have cultural heritage value and many of them have been demolished.  As well, there has been a backlash from residents of the communities where these heritage schools are located.   There needs to be criteria set in place by the Ministry of Education and local school boards, as it applies to the heritage value of the school being considered for demolition.  This means there must be some understanding between the Minister of Heritage and the Minister of Education.  If Ontario wants to save its built heritage – in this case its heritage schools, there must be some legislation in place to consider the heritage value of these buildings instead of demolishing them and sending more of our building materials to the landfill !  This is bad for the environment and not a good use of our resources.

The same thing happened when the Harris government was “combining” some of our communities and City Halls and Town Halls were left vacant – many of them heritage buildings.

Space needed for Government Offices – Space available in existing heritage buildings should be considered first when there is a need for government offices, before building new.  This sets a good example for the re-use of heritage buildings and is a wise use of resources.

General

Heritage preservation has been a difficult walk uphill and has been a neglected part of our “culture”; unless some of these issues to aid the heritage aspect are included in the proposed strategy, it will not serve the needs of the volunteers in the field — these are the people who work with passion and commitment every day to preserve Ontario’s heritage.

The Bottom Line

This is important ! Heritage has been totally buried in a Ministry devoted to tourism, culture and sport and is lost in the shuffle !  It is the unspoken word.

As far as heritage is concerned in the context of “culture”, the main need is that it be separated entirely from the word “culture” and left to stand alone. This would mean appointing a Minister of Heritage for Ontario. This is the key in solving most, if not all of the negative issues we are facing in the preservation of the built, cultural and natural heritage of this province.

Fore more information on Heritage Thorold LACAC and its work for the community visit the group’s website at http://www.heritagethorold.com/ .

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