henric
02-11-2012, 02:21 AM
10/02/2012 8:10:00 AM
by Nevil Hunt
A Brantford, Ont., family bought land that later proved to be an ancient burial ground. Now they have to pay for professional removal of the old bones, turning their dream home into a bad dream.
When you pay someone to dig the foundation for a home, the worst news you might expect is that there's some rocks that need blasting.
Habiba and Imtiaz Ahmed would have been happy with rocks.
Last month, a contractor digging a basement for the Ahmeds' future home found human bones in the ground.
When the contractor called Habiba, she did the responsible thing and made sure the police were informed.
It turns out that archaic bones are covered by some archaic laws in Ontario.
The police quickly determined that there was no foul play suspected, and that the bones were likely aboriginal remains from an old burial site.
That meant the Ahmeds' unfortunate find now falls under the Ontario Cemeteries Act. The family must pay for a professional archeological investigation, whether they want one or not.
The Ahmeds' have followed the rules since then, and have had to pay $15,000 to a consultant to do a preliminary assessment. The consultant says they are about "half done," so the final price tag could be hefty for a family trying to finance a new home.
There is a vague financial assistance program that the provincial cemeteries registrar can provide if there is "undue financial burden" placed on a property owner forced to do an investigation, but the Ahmeds have no idea if they will qualify.
Behind most laws is a good idea.
The Ontario Cemeteries Act and its requirement that burial sites be examined was obviously written with good intentions. The law is intended to ensure that all human burial sites are identified with properly.
But the law's financial penalties may end up deterring people from identifying what they find.
By putting the financial onus on the property owner, the law actually encourages hiding the evidence when a grave site is found.
Worse still, if someone desperate to save money hides a more recently buried cache of bones, they may inadvertently keep evidence of murder from the police.
The most distasteful scenario would see a killer continue to kill because evidence of much earlier murder(s) goes unknown by police.
The Ahmeds have had bad luck. They clearly didn't buy the land with the knowledge that old bones lay beneath the surface.
The same could happen to anyone, so the laws should protect everyone.
The province could set aside a small sum of money to cover the cost of gravesite investigations when a property owner did not know the burial site existed. Maybe the First Nations of the province could pitch in a funds for those sites that are confirmed to contain aboriginal remains.
Ontario – and the other provinces – are now old enough that there are likely aging farmsteads and other rural properties that contain a few surprises for future generations. No one wants to meet their great great-grandparents in the backyard, but it's likely going to happen as time passes and parents fail to pass on what they know about earlier generations.
And when the bad luck strikes, the government should be willing to help. No one likes being stiffed.
Should the government help with the cost of investigating unknown gravesites? Or should "buyer beware" apply to old bones?
by Nevil Hunt
A Brantford, Ont., family bought land that later proved to be an ancient burial ground. Now they have to pay for professional removal of the old bones, turning their dream home into a bad dream.
When you pay someone to dig the foundation for a home, the worst news you might expect is that there's some rocks that need blasting.
Habiba and Imtiaz Ahmed would have been happy with rocks.
Last month, a contractor digging a basement for the Ahmeds' future home found human bones in the ground.
When the contractor called Habiba, she did the responsible thing and made sure the police were informed.
It turns out that archaic bones are covered by some archaic laws in Ontario.
The police quickly determined that there was no foul play suspected, and that the bones were likely aboriginal remains from an old burial site.
That meant the Ahmeds' unfortunate find now falls under the Ontario Cemeteries Act. The family must pay for a professional archeological investigation, whether they want one or not.
The Ahmeds' have followed the rules since then, and have had to pay $15,000 to a consultant to do a preliminary assessment. The consultant says they are about "half done," so the final price tag could be hefty for a family trying to finance a new home.
There is a vague financial assistance program that the provincial cemeteries registrar can provide if there is "undue financial burden" placed on a property owner forced to do an investigation, but the Ahmeds have no idea if they will qualify.
Behind most laws is a good idea.
The Ontario Cemeteries Act and its requirement that burial sites be examined was obviously written with good intentions. The law is intended to ensure that all human burial sites are identified with properly.
But the law's financial penalties may end up deterring people from identifying what they find.
By putting the financial onus on the property owner, the law actually encourages hiding the evidence when a grave site is found.
Worse still, if someone desperate to save money hides a more recently buried cache of bones, they may inadvertently keep evidence of murder from the police.
The most distasteful scenario would see a killer continue to kill because evidence of much earlier murder(s) goes unknown by police.
The Ahmeds have had bad luck. They clearly didn't buy the land with the knowledge that old bones lay beneath the surface.
The same could happen to anyone, so the laws should protect everyone.
The province could set aside a small sum of money to cover the cost of gravesite investigations when a property owner did not know the burial site existed. Maybe the First Nations of the province could pitch in a funds for those sites that are confirmed to contain aboriginal remains.
Ontario – and the other provinces – are now old enough that there are likely aging farmsteads and other rural properties that contain a few surprises for future generations. No one wants to meet their great great-grandparents in the backyard, but it's likely going to happen as time passes and parents fail to pass on what they know about earlier generations.
And when the bad luck strikes, the government should be willing to help. No one likes being stiffed.
Should the government help with the cost of investigating unknown gravesites? Or should "buyer beware" apply to old bones?