The battle over use of some land at Burl's Creek could soon be over.
On the final day of an Ontario Municipal Board meeting, archeologists said there was no evidence of indigenous artifacts on lands used for camping and parking during big events.
However the digging isn’t over. The province says 3.2 acres was missed during the review.
“It's a huge piece of land. It could house 25 housing lots that we're 50 by 100. That's a small subdivision,” says Grand Chief Keith Doxsee of the Montagnais Metis. “It could house 5,000 burial sites on an above ground cemetery, not counting what's beneath the ground.”
Archeologists will have to wait for the snow and ground frost to be gone before work on that final chunk of land can begin.
“We feel we've made a very good case for approvals,” says Nicholas Macos, the lawyer for Burl’s Creek. “It's really just a small piece of the 100-200 acres of what was investigated by the archeologist and they just simply missed it.”
Concerts and events are set to go ahead at Burl's Creek this summer, even after work on the remaining land is finished.
What may be harder to rebuild is trust with groups who are opposed to big events on the property.
“We have very little trust and faith in the owner of the property to do the right thing,” Doxsee says. “We don't know what's going to happen, but we're absolutely sure they'll come back and say there's nothing there, I'm sure; even though there might be.”
A ruling by the OMB could be weeks, even months away.
