A commentary by a ­University of Victoria professor who is chair of the Department of Anthropology.

There has been much recent focus on the B.C. NDP’s decision to postpone long-awaited changes to the Heritage Conservation Act (HCA), the legislation that protects and regulates alterations to archaeological sites in British Columbia.

Much is being made of how the act is seen as an unfair burden for families with residential properties and small businesses, bringing high expenses, long delays and significant unknowns in decision-making processes.

Even in my own community of Cordova Bay, major archaeological sites on both private and municipally held land have been devastated under this ineffective system.

The ancient village site of ȾEL ̧IȽĆE — which had longhouses, burials, activity areas, and other archaeological remains of at least 1,000 years of occupation — has been almost entirely destroyed by private housing.

Our recent discovery of a rare high-bank midden site more than 4,000 years old is at peril of having its final traces demolished under a pending development.

The current archaeological permitting system in B.C. is slow, ineffective and ill-equipped to handle crises or disasters. The provincial archaeology site mapping system (RAAD) is ad-hoc and spotty, especially on private lands, and often relies on people to self-report archaeological finds.

While major projects benefit from........

© Times Colonist