08/02/2024
Ontario farmer says he has to pay $400,000 in archeological fees to build a home on his field
Bruce Cassel said he was told by the Ontario government that until the dig is complete, he could face fines or even jail time for stepping out into his own field
Published Aug 02, 2024
Samples of the stone shards identified as Indigenous artifacts found on Bruce Cassel’s property: left side, chipping detritus; middle, projectile points; right side, scrapers. Cassel says that he was told that he would have to pay $130 per hour to view the artifacts in person.
An Ontario property owner says he was quoted roughly $400,000 in total costs for a provincially mandated archeological assessment and dig after shards of stone were found in his field that have been identified as Indigenous artifacts.
Bruce Cassel said he was told by the ministry of culture and multiculturalism that he could face steep fines or even jail time under the Ontario Heritage Act for disrupting the artifacts.
“It’s consumed a lot of my time, trying to make sense of the situation, trying to get answers in regards to the situation,” Cassel said. “I’m sure it’s played on me a bit, but at the same token I’m just trying to understand the situation and why I’ve been put in this predicament.”
The process began more than four years ago when Cassel decided to develop a field that he used to farm in the township of North Dumfries, in Waterloo Region. Cassel, who is 75 years old, wanted to build a house on his land for himself and his wife to retire to, but first he needed to get an archeological assessment .
The archeologist he hired performed the first stage assessment in 2020 and the second stage in 2021. He received a budget for the remaining stages of the process around the end of 2022, he said, which totalled around $400,000 and included fees to have relevant Indigenous groups inspect the site.
Cassel said that he was told by the archeological firm that he would have to pay $130 per hour to view the artifacts that were unearthed on his property, and opted not to. However, he was able to view pictures of them and he said they appeared to be shards of stone.
National post.
