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Well done, Colvin!

Thanks! I submitted a review tonight. I'll work up a review of Gwaii Haanas for later. Haida Gwaii is a beautiful part of the world, and I'm glad all the logistics worked out so that I could visit Gwaii Haanas and SG̱ang Gwaay over the long weekend (I can submit a positive review for Air Canada after hearing so many horror stories from over the summer!).

Top Missing Site: Cobalt https://uwaterloo.ca/earth-sciences-museum/resources/mining-ontario/cobalt-ontario-canadas-silver-town

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to explore the captivating exhibition at the McMichael Art Gallery, centered around the mining town of Cobalt. Delving into the history of this remarkable place left me thoroughly convinced of its pivotal role in shaping Canada's mining landscape. Known as the birthplace of Canadian hard rock mining, Cobalt pioneered technologies that were later adopted across various mining sites.

The prosperity derived from Cobalt played a crucial role in fueling the early 20th-century Ontario economy. Moreover, the business activities associated with Cobalt mining were instrumental in the growth of the Canadian banking industry and the Toronto Stock Exchange. This legacy endures through the rich tapestry of old buildings and mining structures, earning Cobalt the distinction of being recognized by TV Ontario as Ontario's Most Historic Town and designated as a National Historic Site.

Notably, the Cobalt silver boom drew the attention of renowned painters, including members of the Group of Seven and Nobel laureate Banting, who flocked to the town in the 20s and 30s to capture its picturesque landscapes. The exhibition thoughtfully incorporates these historic drawings, offering a fascinating glimpse into the artistic legacy inspired by Cobalt's unique allure.

Oil Mine in Oil Springs, Ontario


An aspiring one to look out for: https://www.theobserver.ca/news/local-news/oil-springs-sites-readying-for-another-world-heritage-designation-bid
They were left out of Canada's Tentative List in 2017 after applying, but are planning to try again.

Apologies if this isn't the right place to ask about this, but - Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is, as I saw browsing the relevant connection earlier, only inscribed on cultural criterion VI. Does anyone have any insight as to why that is? It makes perfect sense why only criterion VI would apply to Independence Hall, or Auschwitz or other sites of memory, but Head-Smashed-In doesn't seem to fit that mould. Conversely, the retrospectively-adopted statement of OUV contains statements like "It is the best preserved example of the communal hunting techniques and of the way of life of the Plains people based on the vast herds of bison that existed in North America for more than five millennia. A remarkable testimony of pre-European contact life in North America, this bison jump bears witness to a sophisticated custom practiced by Indigenous people of the North American plains." which, to me, read more like a criterion III or V. Even the statement directly supporting criterion VI, "Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is one of the oldest, most extensive and best preserved sites that illustrate communal hunting techniques and of the way of life of Plains people who, for more than five millennia, subsisted on the vast herds of bison that existed in North America", feels like it would be more fitting for one or both of those other criteria!

The documentation on the WHC website is pretty scanty (I guess that happens with the older sites that didn't go through so rigorous a process as exists now), and I've not really been able to find any clues in anything I've seen there. Does anyone have any ideas? Or am I just barking up the wrong tree about what the criteria entail?

It is a good question flahr, and as you said, with such older sites without much documentation, it is hard to know.

Criterion vi is the criterion for associated, intangible significance, while in this case there are physical remains of the practice as well.

Gemini comes up with a plausible reason:
"Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump was one of the few sites inscribed solely on Criterion (vi) in the early 1980s. At that time, there was a greater tendency to select the most compelling single criterion to represent the OUV.

Using Criterion (vi) highlighted the site's value as a link to living Indigenous culture and traditional knowledge, ensuring that the narrative was focused on the people and their ingenuity over millennia, rather than merely classifying it as a collection of historical archaeological remains. This emphasis was a key factor in ensuring the inscription was culturally meaningful and provided a better mechanism for involving the Blackfoot community in the site's interpretation and preservation."