The Ontario Landowners Association (OLA) has seized on something that has the potential to dramatically change the way government does business.
Before I get into their discovery, some background:
The OLA was formed due to the discriminatory treatment farm owners / land owners were and are still receiving at the hands of the Ontario Government - most notably - its Ministry of the Environment (MOE).
MOE has the power to enter any property without warrant and lay charges for various and sundry bizarre infractions. For instance, saw mills and cheese factories have been charged and even closed for polluting - in the case of saw mills for creating "saw dust" and in the case of cheese factories - "whey curd". It would be laughable if the economic consequences to the landowner was not so severe.
Larger landowners have been prevented from use of their lands in order to protect various species many of which are not in the least need of protection. In many instances entire tracts of land have been rezoned 'marsh lands' which has the effect of preventing the farmer from using it but he or she still enjoys the right to pay the realty taxes. No compensation is either offered or given. It is out and out 'State Theft'. And this, despite the fact, that our Country is made up of millions and millions of acres of marsh land, bogs, tundra, lichen and rock out croppings.
City folks have been slow off the mark viewing this outrageous treatment as just a "Rural" issue - but it is not. In this City of Ottawa, laws have recently been invoked to prevent homeowners from spraying their yards for weed control and, not surprisingly, the city is becoming one great big weed patch. Citizens who complained about the ill effects from spraying are now complaining about asthma caused by the weeds the spray was designed to kill. The City has also enacted a bylaw to prevent the cutting of trees. One family had to go to court to get permission to cut a tree that was destroying the foundation of their home.
And then there are the sign bylaws aimed at the Commercial Sector. In Russell Township, just east of Ottawa the Council - in its enlightenment, ordered its businesses to display their signs in both French and English. A Court Challenge is underway in regard to that - by a Francophone and an Anglophone. The Francophone arguing for the right to just have a French Sign and the Anglophone for the right to hang only an English sign.
When Trudeau brought in the Charter of Rights giving this Right and that Right, he purposely omitted the Right to Property. No mere omission that. Trudeau like all socialists / progressives had a fear of property owners; too independent for their liking.
Now to the Glimmer of Hope...
The Crown Grant.
You see, way back when, lands were deeded to original settlers by way of a Crown Grant. Our 35.5 Acres were deeded by the Crown in 1852 to a man by the name of O'Brien. The Crown reserved in our Grant the right to all White Pine since White Pine was used by the British Navy for the building of their Ships' Masts. Otherwise O'Brien - his Heirs and Assigns had and have the unfettered right to the enjoyment of our acreage. The same applies to other Crown Grants subject of course to any reservations that may appear in the Grant.
So the Question posed by the OLA is this: How can the Government now claim to have dominion over lands which it has already given away?
Put another way, it is a tenet of law that you cannot control that what you do not own.
How then can government tax your land? If you were to sell your car to your neighbour, you would have no right to charge him rent for its use. It is his absolutely. The same can be said for land and the OLA is starting to muster its forces to say just that.
If successful MOE would have to be disbanded since it would no longer have the right to arbitrarily interfere with the use of a citizen's real property. If they wanted to deem tracts recreational or whatever, they would have to pay the landowner for the privilege. What a novel concept.
The list goes on but what it would mean too is that government, robbed of its ability to interfere with one's enjoyment of his or her property, would have to downsize - that is say spend less. Taxes would go down but more importantly the intrusion of government into the lives of its citizens would dramatically lessen.
For those wishing to obtain a copy of their own Crown Grant it can be obtained from Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources in Peterborough at (705) 755-2193.
As I see it...
"Galagher"
