NEWS RELEASE

December 6, 1999

For Immediate Release

LIBERALS KILL BREITKREUZ PROPERTY RIGHTS BILL FOR THE THIRD TIME

Manitoba Court of Appeal: "the right to ‘enjoyment of property’ is not a constitutionally protected, fundamental part of Canadian society."

Ottawa – Today, Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, lost his third battle with the Liberal government to provide a minimum of protection for property rights in federal law. "I just can’t believe it," said Breitkreuz. "In February of this year the courts ruled that there is no constitutionally protected right to property in Canada, and today the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice was trying to convince everyone that the Bill of Rights and common law precedence still protect our right to property. Well, it sure didn’t protect David Bryan when he tried to sell his own grain that he grew on his own land."

Breitkreuz told the House of Commons, "For violating the Canadian Wheat Board’s soviet-style decree, Mr. Bryan spent a week in jail, was fined $9,000 and received a 2-year suspended sentence. Mr. Bryan, with the help of the National Citizen’s Coalition, appealed his conviction on the grounds that it violated his property rights as guaranteed in the Canadian Bill of Rights, passed by this Parliament in 1960. On February 4th, 1999 the Manitoba Court of Appeal ruled against David Bryan’s right to sell his own grain that he grew on his own land. Page 14 of the ruling the Manitoba Court of Appeal stated, "Section 1(a) of the Canadian Bill of Rights, which protects property rights through a ‘due process’ clause, was not replicated in the Charter, and the right to ‘enjoyment of property’ is not a constitutionally protected, fundamental part of Canadian society."

"The courts couldn’t have made it any clearer for anyone who cares enough about human rights to read the judgement," stated Breitkreuz. "The Liberal government seems most interested in maintaining its absolute control over private property in Canada." Conservative Peter McKay and Reformers Rahim Jaffer and Roy Bailey spoke in support of Breitkreuz’s property rights bill. The Bloc failed to put up a speaker. NDPer Nelson Riis joined the Liberals in opposing the proposed legislation advancing the argument that U.S. corporations have better protection of property rights under NAFTA than Canadians do in federal law.

As in the two previous debates of his bill, the Liberals opposed both of Breitkreuz’s motions to make his property rights bill votable and to refer it to the Sub-Committee on Human Rights for further study. Breitkreuz’s bill was previously defeated on October 5, 1998 (Bill C-304) and November 19, 1996 (Bill C-284).

"Czech President Vaclav Havel hit the nail on the head when he said, "Human rights rank above state rights because people are the creation of God." Breitkreuz concluded, "Unfortunately, the Liberals have proven by their legislation and by their response to my bill that they believe property rights are a privilege government grants to the people, not a fundamental right of the people that government should protect and guarantee in Canadian law."

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For a copy of Garry’s speech, please call:

Yorkton Office: (306) 782-3309

Ottawa Office: (613) 992-4394

e-mail: breitg0@parl.gc.ca