CLA hosts successful property rights conference

The first annual Property Rights Information Session hosted in Bells Corners by the Carleton Landowners Association (CLA) was an unqualified success. This is the feedback being received from the more than 140 people who attended the meeting on Saturday, April 26th at the Best Western Hotel and Conference Centre on Robertson Road.

The meeting, designed to share important information with property owners, had as its theme: “If you don’t know your rights, you don’t have any”.
As promised by CLA President Shirley Dolan, delegates went away hungry for more information. “This meeting” she said, in her opening remarks, “is meant to give you a bit of food for thought about a lot of different topics. Let us know which ones about which you would like to hear more”. The speakers aptly described how government officials seem to be overstepping their mandates and how, when asked to specify the authority they are using to interfere with a property owner’s rights, they will often go away and not return. Presentations covered topics ranging from the OSPCA Act Charter Challenge, MPAC Reform, and landowner rights when confronted by an unwelcome visitor. The speakers included:

Tom Black, President of the Ontario Landowners Association (OLA), told story after story of requests to Conservation Authority staff to produce proof of regulation or legislation to support their demands of private property owners. Many, it seems, have not read and are not familiar with their own legislation. Mr. Black pointed out that the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) own website, under Crown Land Tenure, clearly states that with the sale and issuance of Letters Patent, the MNR does not retain any future options for the land and does not control land use.

Chief Researcher for the OLA, Elizabeth Marshall was on hand to deliver her usual riveting presentation on Land Patents and the Magna Carta. Ms. Marshall is the author of more than a dozen reports on property rights. Her newest report called Property Rights 101 was sold out by the end of the conference.

Executive Director of LSCO Cindy Moyer explained how the cooperative business model is the way forward to achieve affordable justice. LSCO, a new entity providing legal services, is intended to assist ordinary people navigate the legal system at an affordable price.

Jessica Annis, founder of Operation Pushback, explained how municipal planning is being heavily influenced by the socialist action plan of the United Nations (UN) called Agenda 21. The plan is revealed in legislation such as the Species at Risk Act and Official Plans that restrict development in rural areas, where larger tracts of the privately owned land exist.

The old saying that “you could have heard a pin drop” appropriately describes the room as Gary McHale, author of Victory in the No-Go Zone, gave an account of his harrowing experiences during the Grand River land dispute in Caledonia. Rather than officials over-stepping their mandate, this was a story of police officers not fulfilling their duty to protect the public. He described the process of citizen’s arrest. He also suggested that we should always let the police do their job and that a citizen’s arrest should be a last resort.

Visit the CLA website at www.carletonlandowners.com for more information.