A One-Day Property Rights Conference for Rural & Private Landowners
Tickets are now available for the Upper Canada Land Titles and Patent Research Initiative April 11 meeting at the Mountainview Christian Reformed Church, 290 Main St E, Grimsby, Ontario.
Get your tickets today at https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/upper-canada-land-titles-and-patent-research-initiative-conference.
If you are interested in property rights, this meeting is for you. Featured speaker Bruce Pardy is alaw professor and legal scholar, is known for his principled defense of the rule of law, property rights, and individual liberty. His thoughtful and candid analysis challenges the growing reach of regulatory governance.
Also speaking is Shawn Buckley, an experienced constitutional litigator, who has spent years defending Canadians against government overreach and advocating for practical, real-world legal solutions. His presentations are informative, empowering, and action oriented. He is a Constitutional Lawyer and Founder, National Citizens Inquiry.
OLA AGM
Traditionally held in the Fall, the OLA has selected a spring date for their next AGM: Saturday, April 18, 2026. Although the date has changed from the traditional October time frame to April, the location remains the same.
The meeting will take place at the Legion in Cobourg, 135 Orr Street, Cobourg.
We know that one of the topics of discussion will be the High-Speed Rail System and the new Expropriation rules outlined in Bill C-15. See DON’T RAILROAD US ! by Jeff Bogaerts. You may also be interested in following the OLA Forum Topic High-Speed Rail System and New Expropriation Act. https://ontariolandowners.ca/community/land-use-zoning/high-speed-rail-system-and-new-expropriation-act/ for background information.
Also on the agenda are two speakers in conflict with the City of Pickering. Ed Jamnisek will speak about his Constitutional Challenge and defamation lawsuit from the City of Pickering concerning recording of public meetings. Councillor Lisa Robinson will also speak about her experiences with the municipality.
Look for a detailed agenda in the April 1 ENews. https://ontariolandowners.ca/event/ola-annual-general-meeting-april-18-2026/.
It’s been a year since we gathered. Let’s get together.
Normal Farming Practice, TreeCutting ByLaws and Municipal Government Overreach by Jeff Bogaerts
For generations, Ontario’s agricultural landscape has been shaped not by municipal policy, but by farmers applying local knowledge, seasonal judgment, and longstanding stewardship practices. Farming is not a modern invention, nor is it a discretionary land use. It is a foundational activity that predates municipal government, zoning frameworks, and contemporary policy objectives.
Yet across Ontario, municipal governments are increasingly adopting treecutting bylaws that interfere with normal farming practice. These bylaws are often framed as environmental protection measures, but in practice they represent a growing pattern of municipal overreach into an area that provincial law has deliberately placed beyond local control.
This article builds on earlier discussions about treecutting bylaws and private property rights by focusing specifically on agriculture, and why interference with normal farming practice raises concerns far beyond trees.
Farming Is Different — and the Law Recognizes That
Agriculture is not simply another landuse category. It is an essential activity tied directly to food production, food security, and the ability of families and communities to sustain themselves.
Ontario law has long recognized this reality. That is why normal farming practice is afforded specific protection under provincial legislation. These protections exist because farming operates under conditions that cannot be reduced to static rules or permit schedules. Weather, soil conditions, drainage, access, safety, and timing all demand flexibility and immediate decisionmaking.
Historically, tree management was an ordinary and essential part of farming in Ontario. Farm woodlots supplied firewood, building materials, fencing, tools, and winter income, and were managed alongside crops and livestock as part of an integrated system. Farming and forestry were not separate activities — they were complementary components of a selfsustaining agricultural economy.
Tree management remains an integral part of normal farming practice today. Farmers routinely manage trees to:
- maintain drainage and prevent flooding,
- establish or adjust access routes,
- manage shelterbelts and woodlots,
- protect crops and livestock,
- reduce fire and safety risks,
- and maintain existing infrastructure.
These activities are not speculative or exceptional. They are ordinary, lawful, and necessary components of agricultural stewardship.
TreeCutting ByLaws as a Point of Interference
Municipal treecutting bylaws increasingly fail to distinguish between commercial development and ongoing agricultural land management.
Permit regimes designed for urban or residential contexts are being extended onto farmland without regard for farming realities. In doing so, municipalities often require farmers to seek permission for activities that have always been part of normal farming practice.
A permit requirement reverses the presumption of lawful use. Instead of exercising rights inherent in land ownership and protected farming practice, farmers are required to justify routine decisions to municipal staff who may have no agricultural experience. Delays, denials, fees, and enforcement actions, even when introduced incrementally, interfere directly with food production.
From Regulation to Overreach
It is no longer accurate to describe this trend as a risk of overreach. In many municipalities, overreach has already occurred.
Treecutting bylaws are being applied in ways that ignore provincial farming exemptions, treat farms as development sites, and substitute bureaucratic approval for agricultural judgment. Each individual restriction may be presented as reasonable. Taken together, they create a system in which farmers must ask permission to manage their own land — even when those activities are essential to production and safety.
This is not environmental stewardship. It is centralized control imposed on a decentralized, knowledgebased system.
Food Security Is Not a Policy Preference
Food production is not optional. It is a necessity of life.
The ability to grow food, manage land, and supply one’s family and community with necessities predates modern government. Municipal authority exists to support communities, not to undermine the systems that sustain them.
Food production includes more than annual crops. Trees have long formed part of integrated farming systems, providing food, medicinal products, and essential resources alongside field agriculture, a reality often overlooked in modern regulatory frameworks.
History consistently demonstrates that when governments interfere with agricultural decisionmaking without understanding local conditions, food systems become fragile. Productivity declines, resilience erodes, and unintended consequences follow. These outcomes are rarely immediate, but they are cumulative and difficult to reverse.
This is precisely why normal farming practice is protected in law, not as a loophole, but as a safeguard.
The Slippery Slope of Incremental Control
No single bylaw destroys agriculture. Incremental interference does.
- Treecutting permits today.
- Drainage approvals tomorrow.
- Access restrictions next year.
Each step appears manageable in isolation. Over time, the cumulative effect is a steady erosion of agricultural autonomy and viability. Once farming practice becomes subject to routine municipal permission, the line between regulation and control disappears.
Why Municipal Governments Must Tread Lightly
Municipal governments are creatures of statute. Their authority is delegated, limited, and subject to provincial law. When municipalities extend treecutting bylaws onto farmland without regard for normal farming practice, they exceed both the spirit and the intent of that delegation.
Environmental objectives, however wellintentioned, do not override the foundational importance of food production. Stewardship is best achieved through trust, knowledge, and cooperation — not permits, penalties, and enforcement.
Conclusion: Protecting Farming Is Protecting Food Security
Treecutting bylaws are not simply about trees. When applied to farmland, they become instruments of interference in food production.
Normal farming practice exists because governments, historically and repeatedly, have demonstrated that centralized control is illsuited to agriculture. That lesson should not be forgotten.