Expropriation and Private Property Rights
Two excellent posts from the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta came to my attention recently.
One on Expropriation and the Right to Compensation:
"Government seizure of private land, also known as expropriation, may be direct or indirect. Direct expropriation is rare and equates to an actual change in ownership of the land; whereas indirect expropriation is a loss of economic viability of land due to excessive regulation."
Private property rights are not in our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
What about the provinces? Here is their post Respecting Property Rights, regarding the Alberta scene:
"Earlier this year, my colleague David Percy and I published A Guide to Property Rights in Alberta, which we wrote with the generous support of the Alberta Land Institute. So it is no surprise that I was intrigued to learn that this government's first piece of legislation, Bill 1, which was introduced on Monday, is called
"Respecting Property Rights Act". It begins with the following words:
WHEREAS private ownership of land is a fundamental element of Parliamentary democracy in Alberta;
WHEREAS the Alberta Bill of Rights recognizes and declares the right of the individual to the enjoyment of property and the right not to be deprived thereof except by due process of law;
WHEREAS the Government is committed to consulting with Albertans on legislation that impacts private property ownership;
WHEREAS the Land Assembly Project Area Act was enacted by the Legislature in 2009 and was amended in 2011 but has not been proclaimed in force; and
WHEREAS the repeal of the Land Assembly Project Area Act reaffirms the government’s commitment to respect individual property rights;
What about Ontario? Hon. Toby Barrett MPP tried to do something about private property rights here:
"EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Bill amends the Expropriations Act and the Human Rights Code to enhance the protection that Ontario law gives to owners of property, whether real or personal.
Under the Expropriations Act, an inquiry officer on an inquiry is required to consider the merits of the objectives of the expropriating authority and to add, as parties to an expropriation inquiry, the owners of all lands affected by the expropriation. The decision of an approving authority is subject to judicial review.
The amendments to the Human Rights Code recognize, subject to specific limitations at law, the right to own property, whether real or personal, the right to peaceful enjoyment of one’s property and the right to freedom from search of one’s real property and home and from seizure of one’s personal property located there. Those rights have long been recognized at common law but are largely missing from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The amendments to the Human Rights Code also include the moral responsibility to maintain one’s real property."
Notwithstanding the above, it will take a monumental effort by the people to curtail legislation that allows indirect expropriation of their private property.
The Crown owns 85% of the land in this Province. Somehow this is not enough for them.
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