Transcripts and Detailed Show Information

 

Show #1
March 10, 2006
Alberta Property Rights Initiative Launches Website and Radio

Guest Richard Secord, Lawyer, Ackroyd Law, will talk about the Expropriation Act and Surface Rights Act and the framework for compensation in Alberta.

Guest Neil Wilson, Director, Canadian Constitution Committee and the Alberta Property Rights Initiative will discuss the formation of APRI and what it hopes to accomplish.

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Show #2
March 17, 2006
Coal Bed Methane Development Sparks Battle Over Land Stewardship

Guest Norma Lafonte, LaFonte Consulting Service and member of the Wheatland Surface Rights Action Group, discusses the rights and responsibilities of landowners in a surface rights negotiation.

Guest Andrew Nikiforuk, author and member of the Livingston Landowner Group, talks about the environmental issues associated with the development of coal bed methane.

Guest Mike Dawson, president of the Canadian Society for Unconventional Gas, offers an oil industry perspective on coal bed methane development.

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Show #3
March 24, 2006
Courts May Not Accept Libertarian View of Property Rights

Guest Glenn Fox, Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Guelph talks about four different theories of property rights, libertarian, pragmatic, utilitarian and legal positivistic, and how the courts would be likely to interpret a property rights charter amendment.

Guest Bob Fowler, secretary of the Ontario Property and Environmental Rights Alliance talks about green space and wetlands regulations in Ontario.

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Show #4
March 31, 2006
Trail Use Damaging Private Property Without Compensation

Guest Allan Becker, former president of the Alberta Association of Landowners for the Protection of Agricultural Land (AALPAL) and Guest Randy Gieck, current AALPAL president, discuss the conversion of abandoned trail lines into recreational trails and the potential harm caused to adjacent landowners.

Guest Steve Upham, farmer and rancher, talks about nuisance, trespassing, vandalism and liability issues adjacent landowners are experiencing on the Iron Horse Trail.

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Show #5
April 14, 2006
Egg Marketing Agency Attempts to Confiscate Family Farm

Guest Randy Hillier, president of the Ontario Landowners Association, details his group's efforts to stop a recent raid on an Ontario egg farmer who allegedly violated the province's egg marketing board rules.

Guest Dr. Al Loyns, president of Prairie Horizons and former University of Manitoba professor, discusses the economics of supply management and the challenges of eliminating agriculture marketing boards, including the Canadian Wheat Board.

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Show #6
April 21, 2006
CP Ruling Permits Expropriation by Regulation

Guest Russell Brown, law professor at the University of Alberta, discusses a recent Supreme Court ruling that greatly extends the state’s power to take property by regulation, after approving the city of Vancouver’s decision to strip CP Rail of its right to sell or develop an abandoned stretch of urban rail line without compensation.

Guest Garry Breitkreuz, Saskatchewan MP for Yorkton Melville, discusses a recent bill he introduced to enhance property rights protection in the Canadian Bill of Rights. (Read the bill here.)

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Show #7
April 28, 2006
Nuisance Law Can Protect Property Owners From Polluters

Guest Danny Leroy, Agricultural Economics professor at the University of Lethbridge talks about an upcoming conference in Red Deer put on by the Alberta Agricultural Economics Association. He chairs a session on the issue of Ecosystems, Agriculture and the Environment which discusses how to compensate farmers for providing environmental goods and the brewing battle over water rights.

Guest Elizabeth Brubaker, Executive Director of Environment Probe (link), will deliver the keynote speech at the AAEA banquet, titled Agriculture the Environment and Private Property Rights, which discusses how the common law could be used to protect private property rights.

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Show #8
May 5, 2006
Trading Development Rights a Fairer Way to Preserve Farmland

Guest Guy Greenaway, senior project manager at the Miistakis Institute for the Rockies (link), discusses two presentations he delivered at an Action for Agriculture forum in February: a recently released study on the cost of community services in Red Deer County and a long-term project examining the possible use of trade able development rights to preserve agricultural land.

Guest Harvey Buckley, head of Action for Agriculture (link), talks about his organization's efforts to maintain viable farming operations and promote responsible land use.

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Show #9
May 12, 2006
Freehold Owners Challenge Energy Companies Over Royalties

Guests Else Petersen, president of the Freehold Owners Association (link), and David Speirs, FHOA Director and Chairman of FHOA’s Technical Committee discuss the problems facing 40,000 individual Albertans who own mineral rights privately, including the brewing conflict over who owns the rights to develop coal-bed methane.

Guest Jim Harriman, FHOA Director and principal of Just Freehold Energy Corp (link), discusses FHOA’s new “freeholder-friendly” lease form, and his efforts to motivate the energy industry to adopt fairer leases when dealing with freeholders.

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Show#10
May 19, 2006
Endangered Species Legislation Puts Landowners at Risk

Guest Robert Fowler, secretary of the Ontario Property and Environmental Rights Alliance (link), is in studio to discuss how the assault on private property rights began in 1992 with the UN Convention on Bio diversity, and gives an update on the danger to landowners that continues to be posed by the federal Species at Risk Act.

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Show #11
May 26, 2006
Urban Homeowners Victimized by Overzealous Legislators

Guest Scott Laganga, Executive Director of the U.S.-based Property Rights Alliance (link), discusses the case of Kelo vs The City of New London (in which private homes were expropriated to clear the way for commercial development), and his group's advocacy efforts to pass legislation to prevent further abuses of the government's power of eminent domain.

Guest Adam Mossoff, Associate Professor of Law, Michigan State University College of Law explains why the U.S. Fifth Amendment, which states that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation, has failed to adequately protect private property owners.

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Show #12
June 2, 2006
Firearms Fight Far From Over Standing Ground

Guest Bruce Montague, Dryden-area gunsmith and board member of the Canadian Unregistered Firearm Owners Association, discusses his 2004 arrest and two-year legal battle against federal firearm licensing and registration, as well as his group's proposal for a Firearms Prohibition Registry as an alternative to the current system.

Guest Gary Mauser, Professor in the Faculty of Business Administration at Simon Fraser University, tells why gun registration will not make society safer and explains how the registry is being used to confiscate property without compensation.

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Show #13
June 9, 2006
Water is for Fighting - Part 1

Guest Christine Skjerven, Spokesperson, Alberta Environment, discusses the province’s groundwater protection and coal-bed methane strategy, which includes baseline testing of water wells. AENV’s 24-hour hotline to report water well problems is 1-800-222-6514.

Guest Jessica Ernst, Environmental Consultant and Landowner in the Rosebud Area, tells how her water quality declined dramatically after coal-bed methane development began in her area and explains why she believes Alberta Environment’s initiative will not protect landowners.

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Show #14
June 16, 2006
Water is for Fighting - Part 2

Last week, Rosebud landowner Jessica Ernst discussed why she believes coal bed methane development has harmed her well water. This week, Guest Bob Davis, executive director of Rosebud School of the Arts, tells why other residents in the hamlet of Rosebud are not experiencing the same problems.

Guest Cam Cline, Encana’s Lead of Stakeholder Engagement, discusses the geology of coal bed methane development and how his company addresses water quality complaints.

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Show #15
June 23, 2006
Saving Native Burial Grounds at Private Landowners’ Expense

Alberta has a Historical Resources Act which allows the government to designate zones of archaeological interest and place caveats on private property to protect these sites from being disturbed. What could this mean for property owners? It’s not clear. But in B.C., the Heritage Conservation Act, which was established for a similar purpose to protect native burial grounds, is imposing massive costs on private landowners – without compensation.

Guest Neil MacDonald, owner of Thomson Land and Cattle Co. Ltd., talks about his 14-year legal and political battle to be paid fair compensation for losing the right to mine gravel and grow hay on his property.

Guest Don White, Mr. MacDonald’s legal counsel, tells how “warring bureaucrats” have stood in the way of a fair settlement for his client.

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Show #16
June 30, 2006
Simple Rules for a Complex World

University of Chicago law professor Richard Epstein has long been recognized as one of the top authorities on property rights in the United States. This week, he joins us to discuss his 1995 book, Simple Rules for a Complex World, which describes a simple system to govern human interactions including self-ownership, private property ownership, voluntary exchange, protection from aggression, limited privilege and compensation for takings.

Guest Richard Epstein, professor of law at the University of Chicago, talks about his book Simple Rules for a Complex World.

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Show #17
July 21, 2006
Lawlessness Wins in Caledonia Land Dispute

When Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced a $12.3 million compensation payout to Henco, the development company whose property has been overtaken by Mohawk Warriors in Caledonia, the public may have thought the standoff with the Six Nations reserve had come to a peaceful resolution. But the battle over the land continues.

Guest Kevin, a long-time resident of Caledonia who wishes to remain anonymous for reasons of personal safety, discusses the history of settlement in the region, challenges the native claims to the land and raises troubling questions about the police and political response to the crisis. Citizens of Caledonia are fighting back with a class action lawsuit which can be viewed at www.citizensofcaledonia.ca.

Guest Gary McHale, an independent consultant and webmaster for the site www.caledoniawakeupcall.com, shows pictures and tells stories the mainstream media are ignoring, and reveals why all Canadians should be concerned about the way this dispute has been handled.

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Show #18
July 28, 2006
Free Entry gives Free Licence to Trample Private Property Rights

B.C.’s Mineral Tenure Act and its new online stake-claiming system has rural B.C. residents warring over land. Under B.C.’s mining laws, anyone can buy a $25 miner’s permit, pay 17 cents an acre for mineral rights and gain free access to his neighbor’s private property. Small rural landowners, who in some cases paid $1,000 or more per acre for their property, only discovered the mineral rights beneath their land had been sold when prospectors showed up unannounced to begin staking their claims. Read recent stories in The Tyee: War Brewing Over Mining Rights in BC; Mining Minister Responds; and Hot Summer Where Prospector and Landowners Square Off.

Guest Kurt Yakelashek, a resident near Vernon, B.C., talks about the effect of the lax mining rules and how his right to own and enjoy his private property has been compromised.

Guest Rob Westie, a neighbor in the same area, tells how the B.C. government has given free license to amateur prospectors to trespass and damage private property without legal recourse. They have launched the B.C. Landowners Rights Group (link) with a mission to collect a million signatures in an online petition to demand a change in the law.

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Show #19
August 4, 2006
Fighting Fisheries Bureaucrats in B.C. and Frontier Centre Exposes Poor Governance on Manitoba Reserves

Barry and Linda Sheridan were hoping their B.C. investment property would yield a nice retirement nest egg – until local environmentalists and federal Fisheries bureaucrats got in the way. Barry updates us on his battle to regain the use of his property.

Also, The Frontier Centre for Public Policy (link) recently completed a landmark survey of aboriginal residents on Manitoba reserves and released a report that ranks the bands on governance and accountability.

Guest Barry Sheridan, B.C. landowner, talks about how development restrictions to protect fish habitat has devalued his property without compensation.

Guests Dennis Owens and Don Sandberg discuss the Frontier Centre’s Aboriginal Governance Index.

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Show #20
August 11, 2006
Canadian Unregistered Firearm Owners Association takes aim at Bill C-21

MP Garry Breitkreuz told the Canadian firearms community that a Conservative government would return the firearms laws essentially to the way they were before 1995. Bill C-21, introduced by Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, has been touted by the government as evidence it is keeping its campaign promise to kill the long gun registry. But gun owners up in arms – they say it doesn’t go far enough.

Guest Ed Hudson, spokesman with the Canadian Unregistered Firearm Owners Association (link), tells why his organization is calling for the Public Safety Minister to withdraw Bill C-21.

Guest David Tomlinson, president of the National Firearms Association (link), says why he thinks Bill C-21 should be considered a first step, and discusses some of the changes he would still like to see.

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Show #21
August 18, 2006
From Collective Rights to Private Rights and How to Mediate Between Competing Rights

The ongoing struggle between surface landowners and mineral rights holders has been a recurring theme of this show. Canadian law gives precedence to those who own the subsurface to extract their resources, even if the surface landowner says no. Is that the way it should be? Our guest says no.

Also, many Canadian aboriginal reserves are poverty-stricken and demoralized, with individual residents having little control over their own economic futures. Our guest says collective ownership of property is to blame.

Guest Jan Narveson, professor emeritus in the philosophy department at the University of Waterloo, discusses what property rights are and why the rights of surface owners should take precedence over mineral rights.

Guest Tanis Fiss, director of the Centre for Aboriginal Studies at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (link), explains how private property rights would address the poverty on Canada’s aboriginal reserves.

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Show #22
August 25, 2006
Protecting Property Rights Through the Courts

The state of protection for property rights in law is dismal, giving governments the full power to decide whether they will compensate individuals for taking their property, rather than mandating that they must. However, there is reason to believe that litigation may offer an avenue to defend individuals who have had their property taken or devalued by government action.

Guest John Carpay, director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation (link), discusses the state of the law regarding property rights and how litigation might be used to advance protection through the courts.

Guest Ed Frost, an Edmonton-based lawyer who has practiced for more than two decades in expropriation law, discusses the legal precedents which have helped adjacent landowners in Alberta successfully recover losses after expropriations.

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Show #23
September 1, 2006
Zoning out - 
Public Backlash Causes Councilors to Reconsider Bylaw Changes.

Zoning changes may be a routine way for municipal councils to control development, but it is also a way for them to devalue land without paying compensation. At a public hearing on Monday night, Leduc county landowners made it clear they weren’t going to take it anymore.

Also, an update on the case against Shawn Carmichael, an Ontario egg farmer who was raided for allegedly violating the province's egg marketing board rules.

Guest Dirk Cornish, landowner in the Thorsby-Warburg area of Leduc county, discusses the problems area landowners have with proposed zoning changes that they believe strips away their rights.

Guest Randy Hillier, president of the Ontario Landowners Association (link), gives an update on the Carmichael case and talks about his group’s plan to run independent landowner candidates in upcoming elections.

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Show #24
September 8, 2006
Municipalities Push the Limits on Taking Private Land

Cities are frequent users – and abusers – of the expropriation power in order to build roads, bridges and other public works. But too often, city administrators attempt to take land without giving full, fair and timely compensation. Sometimes they even try to get away with not paying compensation at all.

Guest Don Mallon, lawyer with Prowse Chowne (link), reviews how a number of expropriation cases from Alberta were settled in the last year, the topic of his presentation at the Alberta Expropriation Association AGM.

Guest Diane Spraggs, president of Gemex Investments in Coquitlam, tells how the city took her land to build a bridge on her property, without expropriation or compensation.

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Show #25
September 22, 2006
Undefined Mineral Rights Freezes Freeholder Assets

In Alberta, it is not clear who owns the rights to develop coal bed methane and this has essentially frozen the assets of freehold mineral holders. The EUB will hear arguments from both sides of this dispute in October, but it will likely either take government legislation or court action to settle the matter.

Guest David Speirs, board member of the Freehold Owners Association (link) and chair of the FHOA technical committee, discusses the competing rights claims and how his group thinks it ought to be resolved.

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Show #26
September 29, 2006
The Mystery of Capital: An interview with Hernando De Soto

Hailed by Bill Clinton, former President of the United States as, “The world's greatest living economist,” Hernando de Soto is no ordinary economist.  Peruvian-born De Soto has focused on a revolutionary concept that is having repercussions throughout the world's poor countries: the lack of formal property rights as the source of poverty in poor countries. De Soto has affirmed that impoverished people can attain legal status, and has developed a guide to the "capitalization process" for poor countries.

Guest Hernando De Soto is currently President of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (link), headquartered in Lima, Peru, which is considered by The Economist as one of the two most important think tanks in the world. Time magazine chose him as one of the five leading Latin American innovators of the century in its special May 1999 issue Leaders for the New Millennium, and included him among the 100 most influential people in the world in 2004.

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