A 2002 provincial law — the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act (FBCSA) — triggered what came next.

The couple was ordered by Ontario’s Registrar of Burials to launch a burial site investigation (BSI) to determine “the origin of the site.”

Absolutely insane homeowners have to foot the bill, and I guarantee before it could be legally required, it was a fraction of that cost.

The survey should be something a government agency does at no cost to the landowner.

The current system incentives hiding or destroying anything that is found.

The only reason it would be a fraction of the cost is because there would be no regulations and no requirement to adhere to certain standards. Of course it would be cheaper, but it would also probably miss a lot of evidence and destroy much more if there was no requirement to meet a standard. Probably no indigenous inclusion as well.

I do agree that the law needs to be redone to define undue hardship and set clear limits on what a homeowner is responsible for. Owning property is a privilege, not a right, and thus the homeowners should be responsible for a portion of it, but not a bankruptable amount. I have a hard time assessing what pity is deserved in this case, because they clearly had the money to buy a second, lake-front home. Not saying $300k is chump change, but this isn’t a poor family by any means.

I am a bit shocked that the homeowners were unaware of the amount of remains found in the area.

The point was if everyone has to pay for something, it drastically raises demand and companies know consumers have no choice but to pay someone

That will always raise prices.

And it’s wild you’re shocked that people are ignorant of what’s underground on their property. How the fuck would they know?

It’s not about knowing, it’s about risk.

I live in an earthquake zone. I know before ai buy a home, I should consult an earthquake map to see my risk of liquidation or amplification and make a judgement based on that.

When buying a property, it is in the buyers interest to look at KNOWN hazards, assess the risk and make informed decisions. Archeological remains is a known risk of that area, just like flooding might be because of the lake front.

Well I think after this story gets out, people aren’t going to be looking to buy lakefront properties there unless legislation changes. Who wants to be on the hook for 300-500k expense or more for some archaeological dig? This should tank the property values of the entire region.