Doing legal research this morning as part of an Appeal I am self-representing later this year in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in Halifax, I stumbled on this (entirely unrelated) topic concerning original Land Grants, whose titles were granted in perpetuity to all heirs and descendants. If most of this information is basically true, then locals in Gabarus and Louisburg might well be able to mount a successful legal motion to get the old roads joining these two foundational communities on the island back in service, essentially kicking the Federales who closed the road as part of mounting the Fortress Louisburg Historic Site (principally for non resident tourists) out of the picture.
Generally speaking I believe we all should become more educated in terms of fundamental Common Law and related issues about which 99.9% of us – including senior professionals such as judges and government officials and law professors – are abysmally ignorant. We might soon be losing our civilisation if we don’t wake up!
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/24449
“On June 16, 2010, the Crown Land Patent Initiative Committee, an internal group of the Ontario Landowners Association (OLA), met with members of the Federal Conservative Caucus for an informative discussion on the powerful force and effect of Crown Land Patent grants.
Supported with years of in-depth research, the group informed the MP’s that Crown Land Patents are the root of title to property and were originally issued to settlers to award them ownership of property or land. Land Patents are legal contracts with the Crown that give land owners certain rights as detailed in each land patent and remain in effect in perpetuity, even though the properties may change ownership many times. The Land Patent committee cited a number of “property issue” court cases that were won based on recognition of the crown land patents.
All land owners are encouraged to apply for their crown land patent grants.
The OLA committee presenting members were President Jack MacLaren, Elizabeth Marshall, Duaine McKinley, Garry Otten and Deborah Madill.
The Ontario Landowners Association (OLA) was formed in 2006 to preserve and protect the rights of property owners and to enshrine property rights within the Constitution of Canada and the laws of the Province of Ontario. The OLA mandate is to aid landowners whose rights to; own, use, manage, enjoy or benefit from, have been, or will be affected or harmed through Government actions. In addition, they actively support those Politicians and Governments who support, property rights and demonstrate and encourage small, fiscally responsible Government. For more information on the OLA or land patents visit the OLA web site at ontariolandowners.ca ”
http://www.workingforest.com/ontario-landowners-association-argues-original-documents-supersede-all-whimsical-legislation-since-before-confederation/
“Smart metres, water metres, land appropriation, forced re-zoning, amalgamation, municipal plans, the Mineral and Aggregate Act, Toronto’s Greenbelt,unwanted access to your property by any ministry or official for any reason other than serious crime, the Endangered Species Act and basically any legislation that may impact land ownership rights could be completely moot and some would suggest outright illegal in the eyes of the Supreme Court of Canada so long as you hold a Crown Land Patent Grant….
“Land patent grants are the original contracts between the Crown and the original settlers, their heirs and assigns forever; you are either the heirs or the assigns of those patentees (as landowners),” she said. “Those (CLPGs) grant you your rights; your water rights, your mineral rights, your right to tell the MNR, the bylaw offi cers, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera this is my land, get off. “I am not just saying this as a sermon; this is absolute solid, 100 per cent concrete,” she said, referring to several court cases spanning about 100 years. “These documents overrule orders in council, they overrule legislation, they overrule just about everything. All legislation is, is a thought, a whim or an idea.” She explained the farce of legislation is that it is created by the ideals of the people in charge and a result of the time they are created, easily reneged when another party or person gets another idea “or whim.” “They put it on paper and they think it’s a real law; and that’s what we are being ruined by, legislation that is a thought, a whim, an idea,” she added. “It doesn’t have to be constitutional, don’t ever think that any piece of any legislation has to follow any rules, it does not.” She said one such piece of legislation was in 1950 under the Lands Grant Act, where, she said, the proof and power of the original land grants was buried in the wording. That was challenged in the Superior Court of Ontario by a group of residents who all shared a private section of beach that was frequently trespassed upon by the public. The township decided it would attempt to appropriate the beach section, creating a development plan to do so, from the property owners to create public land. But the residents each secured their CLPGs, which all proved ownership to the waterfront and court ruled in favour of the private landowners. “(The township) could not plan for those beaches, they didn’t own it; if you don’t own it you can’t plan for it,” she said. “All of these plans, they may work on Crown land, they may work on public land, but when it comes to your land, you are the only one that actually has a plan and that’s your survey, registered against your title.
“And your title goes all the way back to the Crown Land Patent Grants because the (grants) are your root of title,” she added, warning that one way the grants have been hidden was altering the law so lawyers only had to go back 40 years in a title search for property purchase. “You in fact may not even be able to have the land that you have because they have not done a complete search from you to the (CLPG).” She told all in attendance they should go about securing their offi cial, certifi ed copy of the CLPG at a small cost to ensure they know their full rights and exactly what they own and what, if anything, the government may have access to.
“It will tell you whether you do or you do not own your water, if you have navigable water ways, whether you do or do not own your beaches, it will tell you whether you own your mineral lights…it won’t even have your name on it, it will be the original patentees’,” she explained. She said in other court cases that landed at the federal Supreme Court, the rulings were “it clearly states council cannot overrule the reservations or the guarantees of the (CLPGs),” and that the municipalities, province or federal government has no authority to create legislation that would overrule the patents. “It’s up to you folks to get your patents and start standing up for and understanding your own rights; when people come on to your land that are offi cials from the municipality or the MNR or whatever, if they are coming there to tell you…‘I’m the bylaw inspector, you can’t paint your trim pink,’ you can say ‘get off my land, you have no right or authority; I have a contract with the Crown, what do you have…get off my land’. “You have the right to tell anyone and everyone to get off your land unless you have committed a criminal offence,” she added, so long as the landowner physically has a certifi ed copy of the CLPG, which should be posted and visible.
Metering Private Wells
She said it is even more crucial right now that property owners, regardless of the size of property, get theirs now. Ms. Marshall said she has read new provincial legislation coming out that identifi es the government’s desire to put water metres on private wells. “They already have their source water committees looking at metering wells, private, individual wells,” she said, again warning that depending on what the original negotiation was, the CLPG could say that the Crown has the right to the water, and in that case, there will be little power to stop a meter going on the well. However, if the CLPG does not clearly identify the reservation of water rights to the Crown, she said the property owner has every right to deny entry, even to enact a citizen’s arrest for trespassing against the offi cial. She said the CLPGs outweigh any legislation that may impact a person’s property and under common law, identify that no person shall pollute, block or alter the fl ow of neighbour’s water, air or land, so environmental protection is already built in, requiring no additional water or species protection acts. “These patents are your rights, they are your responsibilities and they are your good-neighbour paper,” Ms. Marshall said. “You have the authority; these things are also a lot of responsibility, you cannot just go hog wild, it is set in common law.” She said it is a powerful tool that could shatter many of the current systems in the country, thus the fear from all levels of government. Ms. Marshall suggested farmers and people in the greenbelts, who had sever limitations put on their ability to develop or use their lands as they see fit, could be due all their appropriated lands back or financial compensation. She referred to another successful court case of an elderly gentleman in Petawawa, where the local council wished to alter the zoning of his land from rural residential to mineral aggregate against his wishes. Using his land patent grant, that was quashed. The documents have also been used to stop governments from taking over private land mineral rights and she said could overrule –in favour of the original landowners — any international, national or provincial heritage sites, UNESCO sites and formed marsh lands. She said it could throw wrenches into many municipal plans and systems, including water treatment systems and the municipal water act that places people in urban areas on one system. She said under the CLPGs, that is an unnecessary infringement of rights.”
Cape Breton example:
Provincial Crown Land Grants
http://public.worldfreemansociety.org/index.php/forum/43-general-discussion/28909-provincial-crown-land-grants
I will use Cape Breton Island as an example, but it applies to Nova Scotia (New Scotland), and any other province or territory in which Crown Land Grant Patents where issued to the original settlers.
1.Find the provinces Crown Land Grant Map (Natural Resources Dept) example: (Nova Scotia)
http://www.gov.ns.ca/land/grantmap/htm
2.Compare closely to other detailed maps, example: Geologial and Natural History Survey of Canada 1884
http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps4560.html
These maps are incredible. They indicate all churchs, shops and even better, the homes of the settlers, some are even named.
3.Now compare with the original census of Canada-1881
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/data … 0.01-e.php
(If you are blessed to still hold an original family bible, be sure to check with this very important document as well.)
4.Also, check out the provinces historical vital statistics (here’s Nova Scotia’s)
http://www.novascotiagenealogy.com
Then one could go to their local Lands and Deeds Office (Municipality or County), to search for any old wills from their forefathers (if one exists). One can also ensure a proper search was done on the property in question.
This is a very difficult task, settling old Family Business. Remember, many early settler’s never registered their property nor did they mortgage them. It was recorded by Natural Resources/Reciever General when they recieved the Crown Land Grant, not the county or municipality.
For fun: Old map of Gabarus area (others available from same website): http://www.gov.ns.ca/natr/land/indexmaps/133.pdf