Know your legislation, know your property
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For Liz Marshall, head researcher with the Ontario Landowners Association, information is king, and once you have it, as a private landowner, all that's left is for you to pick your battles.
That was the basic message of her address at an event in Cobden on Friday, Feb. 22 hosted by the Renfrew Landowners Association, as she consistently reiterated her encyclopedic knowledge of Canadian and Ontario statutes that affect, directly or indirectly, the rights and freedoms of private property holders in the province.
Amid a flurry of references to bits of legislation, obscure and renowned alike, the repeated refrain she echoed during her speech and in response to questions was that unless you know exactly what you own, and on what conditions, you really can't properly defend yourself or your property.
Despite being in a room full of soon-to-be admirers, Marshall struck an almost combative tone as she recounted various injustices that she has come across during her involvement with the OLA, and underscored also the importance of being politically active to ensure that elected officials don't overstep their legal rights when it comes to making policy that affects the private property of their constituents.
For instance, according to Marshall, the first part of section 14 of Ontario's Municipal Act, says that a bylaw has no power if it runs contrary to a piece of federal or provincial legislation, or if it attempts to counter "an instrument of a legislative nature, including an order, licence or approval, made or issued under a provincial or federal Act or regulation."
This last clause, says Marshall, included original title deeds and letters patent pertaining to private property.
Under that interpretation, some township bylaws pertaining to property maintenance, tree cutting or other restrictions/demands on private property owners would actually be illegal, and would carry no weight, she explained.
At the end of the meeting, Marshall left the crowd with a shopping list of documents that she felt they needed to get their hands on in order to be best equipped to protect their property, including letters patent, a complete title search dating back to the original Crown grant of the land, the original survey documents from when the patent was issued, the original surveyor's notes, and any and all deeds to the property in question.
Ryan Paulsen is a Daily Observer multimedia journalist
Twitter: @PRyanPaulsen.