To Save a Butterfly, Must One Kill It? The Historic Places Initiative in a Rural Context

Feature prepared by Stephen Irving, Francesco Manganiello, Rebecca Sciarra, and Chris Wiebe.

This piece was originally introduced at the May 3, 2007 "In Focus Speakers’ Series" Workshop on "The Arts and Heritage in Rural Communities" done in partnership with the Knowledge Centre of the Department of Canadian Heritage. The workshop featured John Brotman, executive director of the Ontario Arts Council and the following members of the Rideau Heritage Initiative pilot project: Stephen Irving, Francesco Manganiello, Rebecca Sciarra, and Chris Wiebe. Workshop discussants included Pamela Blackstock, Director, Historic Places Branch, Parks Canada and Deborah Hossack, Registrar, Historic Places Initiative, Ontario Ministry of Culture.

Special thanks to Pamela Blackstock, Director, Historic Places Branch, Parks Canada, James Hamilton, Supervisor, Services Unit, Programs and Services Branch, Ontario Ministry of Culture, Deborah Hossack, Registrar, Historic Places Initiative, Ontario Ministry of Culture, and Professor Herb Stovel, Coordinator, Heritage Conservation Programme, School of Canadian Studies, Carleton University for their collaboration in the development of "To Save a Butterfly, Must One Kill It? The Historic Places Initiative in a Rural Context".

The views and opinions in this paper reflect those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the positions of the Department of Canadian Heritage, Parks Canada, the Provincial Government of Ontario or the Government of Canada.

Introduction

Heritage conservation in Canada is often identified with the notion of “freeze-drying” places as static monuments to the past thus removing them from everyday practical use. This idea is perpetuated by the widely held perception that heritage designation of property — heritage conservation’s most high profile instrument — onerously imposes on property rights. So pervasive and resilient is this perception that it has become a historical artifact in its own right; one that unfortunately permeates the views and imaginations of individuals and governments alike.

This paper examines the findings of the Rideau Heritage Initiative (RHI), a 2006 Ontario provincial summer pilot project, conducted in the predominantly rural municipalities of the Rideau Canal Corridor that was designed to advance the heritage conservation goals of the Historic Places Initiative (HPI). It seeks to show that rather than freezing places in time, a heritage conservation program such as the Historic Places Initiative can be a powerful tool for rural communities in managing their local heritage resources. However, these resources are most difficult to manage because they are linked to a complex legal web of property rights pertaining to a palimpsest of zoning bylaws, planning legislation and land-use restrictions that are subject to municipal bylaws and provincial statutes which vary from community to community.

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