For Immediate Release:
February 24, 2011
Queens Park – After spearheading three separate Private Members Bills designed to restore property rights in Ontario, Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett is heartened that a joint provincial and federal effort may be able to give landowners the rights and protections they deserve.
Barrett commented following a Queens Park media conference in which MPP Randy Hillier and MP Scott Reid announced they were jointly presenting resolutions in the House of Commons and the Legislative Assembly to amend Canada/Ontario’s constitution within the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“It’s now sixteen years since I first introduced Bill 11 – the Property Rights Statute Law Amendment Act, 1995. Given the importance of this issue I am glad to see it continuing momentum through the joint Hillier and Reid resolutions,” Barrett indicated. “I contend that government can’t infringe on one’s property without paying and without giving the owner a say.”
The 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights was originally formed with protections for, “security of the person and enjoyment of property, and the right not to be deprived thereof…”. However the right to own property was not included in the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“Even communist regimes like China have property rights for their people – it’s time for Ontario and Canada to acknowledge the very basic need to address an individual’s right to own and enjoy one’s land and home,” Barrett concluded.
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For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett at
(519) 428-0446 or (905)-765-8413, 1-800-903-8629