Garry Breitkreuz, M.P. Yorkton-Melville

News Release

Bill to Strengthen Property Rights Re-Introduced in Parliament

"This bill is my gift to every Canadian and their right to enjoy their personal property free from unnecessary interference by the federal government."

For Immediate Delivery

December 11, 1997, 1998

Ottawa-- Today, Garry Breitkreuz, M.P. for Yorkton-Melville, re-introduced his private members bill C-304 to strengthen the protection of individual property rights in federal law. "Sitting in the Justice Committee during the review of the gun registration regulations clinched it for me. Every time I see the government creating a huge bureaucracy whose only purpose is to interfere with a person’s right to enjoy their personal property, I see red," declared Breitkreuz. "Everyone should be concerned when the government unnecessarily infringes on one person’s property rights because they could be next."

"Property rights are natural and fundamental and based on hundreds of years of common law. Unfortunately, the government intentionally left property rights out of the Charter in 1982, to the detriment of each person’s democratic rights and economic freedoms. The only legal protection in federal law rests in the Canadian Bill of Rights," he explained.

Breitkreuz’ bill would specifically guarantee that every person has (1) the right to the enjoyment of their property, (2) the right not to be deprived of their property unless they are given a fair hearing, paid fair, timely and impartially-fixed compensation, and (3) the right to appeal to the courts if their property rights have been infringed upon or denied. Every person’s property rights would be guaranteed in every law in Canada unless it is expressly declared that the Act shall operate notwithstanding the Canadian Bill of Rights. An adoption of a declaration of notwithstanding would require the votes of at least two-thirds of the Members of the House of Commons.

"This property rights bill is my gift to law-abiding, responsible gun owners who just want the right to enjoy their property and their sport. This bill is my gift to farmers in western Canada who don’t have the freedom of choice to sell the wheat they grow through the sweat of their own brow. This bill is my gift to the churches of Newfoundland who will have their land and property taken by the recent passage of Term 17. This bill is my gift to every person who owns a satellite dish not approved by the CRTC. Finally, this bill is my gift to every person or corporation in this country who has their property rights arbitrarily infringed upon or denied by legislation introduced and passed by the federal government," concluded Breitkreuz.

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For a copy Garry’s Property Rights Bill, please contact:

Garry Breitkreuz, M.P.