end of an era

It looks like "canada's new government" is sparing no effort at erasing the past and making room for more "new" stuff in our lives.
From the Globe and Mail (061012):

During its wide-ranging purge of "wasteful programs," Ottawa discontinued the $30-million [Commercial Heritage Properties Incentive Fund].
The CHPIF was the only federal program designed to help save [the pre-1920 heritage] buildings [from demolition].

This fund offered "developers financial incentives to rehabilitate commercial buildings so deteriorated they might otherwise be torn down, it rescued traditional streetscapes across the land." Examples listed include a $300k grant to restore an 1846 flour mill into a residential and commercial complex in Thorold, ON; a $500k grant to help convert the King George V Building in St.John's to a boutique hotel; and $1million aid package to restore the Dickensian Distillery District in Toronto.
The fate of these heritage buildings is now solely in the hands of their cities and the developers that dictate their agendas. And we all know how well the private sector cares for the environment (both natural and emotional)...