Alberta Property Rights Initiative

What are property rights?

Property rights are ownership mechanisms governing the use, protection, and transfer of resources. For example, a farmer may own land and lease it to a neighbor, specifying and limiting how the land may be used. The government may own the mineral resources and facilitate access for oil and gas companies. They may grant user rights to the public wishing to use common road allowances for recreational access.

What are the different aspects of ownership?

Aspects of Full Ownership includes the Rights:

• To possess
• To use
• To manage
• The right to the income
• To the capital
• To security
• To transferability
• To the absence of term
• To the prohibition of harmful use
• To the liability to dispose of
• To the residual character of property

When these elements of property ownership are diminished by government regulation or interference by another private property owner, an individual is harmed.

What kind of property ought to be protected by a property rights provision?

There are several kinds of property.

• Real Property is tangible and immoveable, such as land and buildings;
• Personal Property can be tangible and moveable, such as cars, grain, and firearms or intangible such as stocks, bonds, and bank accounts;
• Intellectual Property is intangible such as copyrights, patents, and trademarks;
• Entitlements, such as pension benefits and matrimonial property, may result from non-monetary contributions.

How are property rights protected in law?

When you purchase property you decide how it is used, transferred, and the legal system ensures that you are protected from loss, through contract law, or from harm, through tort and nuisance law. This applies whether you own real property (land or buildings), personal property (tangibles like cars, grain, or firearms or intangibles like stocks, bonds, or bank accounts), intellectual property (copyrights, trademarks, or patents), or entitlements (pension benefits, tenure, or matrimonial property).

Are private property rights paramount?

Ownership is not absolute. The state possesses the power to expropriate private property to serve the public interest. Convention, common law, and statutes often stipulate that private property can only be taken through due process and with just compensation. However, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not contain an explicit provision obligating the state to do so. Moreover, the state may choose not undertake formal expropriation proceedings for property but can use regulation to limit or prohibit its use. Devaluing property in this manner without compensation is referred to as a "regulatory taking".

Shouldn't the public good take precedence over private property rights?

Over the years increasing demand for government regulation has begun to affect ownership structures, at times creating hardship for private property owners and undermining business investment. Government policy must be enacted in a way that respects ownership structures or, in the case of a legitimate public good, employs due process to adequately compensate individuals and businesses if a change in property rights causes financial adversity.

Are personal earnings also a property right?

Government is necessary to preserve our freedom. The state collects taxes and in return provides national defence, courts of law, and police services. When government becomes the means to achieve broader social goals, taxation will increase. In order to give citizens maximum freedom to choose the services they wish to have and the extent to which they will be taxed the scope of government must be limited and the power of government should be localized.

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