Land rights heat up Ontario Legislature

Last Thursday, the Ontario Legislature debated my Private Member’s Bill, The Land Rights and Responsibilities Act, 2006.

In the House debate, I explained why I believe the time has come to formally enshrine land rights and responsibilities in Ontario law.

Years ago, a railway company came on to my great-great-grandfather’s land, and was legally allowed to force him to move his house. He had no choice.

In the 1960s, my grandfather was surprised to find railroad survey stakes going across his farmland. For the second time, my family’s land was threatened with expropriation. This time, we won, and my wife and I eventually built our house on the farm in question.

I feel my family and neighbours shouldn’t have had to fight those battles the way they did.

As landowners will know, government has developed a habit of eroding their ability to own and enjoy their own property. It does this through limitations on property usage, out-right expropriation, as well as ever accumulating rules and regulations and red tape.

This often causes individuals to suffer financial hardship, or at worst, causes them to move their houses to accommodate railroads.

During debate, I explained to MPPs how Canada used to have property rights – In 1960, then Prime Minister Diefenbaker reiterated Canadians’ property rights in the Canadian Bill of Rights. But, they were essentially taken away in 1982 with the new Charter.

As I explained last week, property is a basket term. It can include farm quota, intellectual property, possessions, ideas, music, and land. In order to simplify the debate, I focused exclusively on land rights.

The all-party debate made it clear that land rights are important to regular, mainstream Ontarians. Even the NDP came out in support, with one MPP stating that “I think this is an issue that both left and right can agree on.”

But, one by one, the Liberals lined up to speak out against your right to own and enjoy your land and home. When it came time to vote, they showed their true colours – and voted against protecting land rights and responsibilities. This is significant because it gives us clues as to where the current McGuinty government is going on property rights.

The McGuinty government appears to be showing us that at the most basic level, it believes that it should have an unfettered right to take your land – or enter your home – without asking permission, and without paying.

We saw first-hand that the current government is not on the side of tenants – as Bill 57 would have forbidden government from entering one’s home without consent, or by following due process.

We learned that the current government is opposed to balancing rights with responsibilities. Bill 57 would have made it clear that while we all have the right to own and enjoy our own property, we also have the responsibility to maintain it to an acceptable standard fitting with our community.

And probably most shockingly, the McGuinty Liberals voted against a re-affirmation of one of the most basic principles in the 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights.

Despite being voted down in the Ontario Legislature, I consider my bill to be a success. It has initiated a conversation about land rights, and educated policy-makers about the grievances of many in Rural Ontario.