Note: as of June 23, 2015: My conclusion now is that we have always lived under a thinly disguised feudal system–which is emerging more and more into a global communitarian corporate feudal system. There are property rights protection built into our laws, but ultimately it looks like the system sees us as only tenants. I look at property rights for all of us as a natural principle and higher law.

Residents fume over LRT’s ‘path of destruction’ (Edmonton, May 5 ’08)

At a minimum, this route would require the city to purchase or expropriate, and then demolish, at least six walk-up apartment buildings, with a total of 111 rental units.

Minister cautious on Queensway (Ottawa, May 8 ’08)

City planners say Ottawa could save $46 million by extending the Transitway through the Roman Ave. properties, although it would involve expropriating 25 homes. Councillors agreed this week to explore other options first,…

Colourful lawyer mourned (Windsor, Ontario, May 12 ’08)

Paroian made many trips to city council chambers to dispute zoning rules or land expropriations…

…March 1994: Representing a landowner on the future site of Casino Windsor in expropriation talks, Paroian ups the compensation demand to $19.4 million from $17.3 million.

…January 2004: Paroian represents a group of former tenants of the Norwich block, where the Chrysler Canada building now stands, before the Ontario Municipal Board in an battle over expropriation compensation.

Agriculture Futures and Cash Markets Not Converging, Producers are Having A Difficult Time Hedging Risk (http://www.usetdas.com/TDAS/NewsArticle.aspx?NewsID=11320)

Canadian farmland owners benefit from a transparent and enforceable title system with no material risk of de jure or, worse yet, de facto expropriation.

Google search “eminent domain Canada”

Eminent domain (Wikipedia article)

Eminent domain (United States), compulsory purchase (United Kingdom, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Australia) or expropriation (South Africa and Canada) in common law legal systems is the inherent power of the state to seize a citizen’s private property, expropriate property, or rights in property, without the owner’s consent….

The legal principle is that all property in a jurisdiction is “owned” by the sovereign of it, and that authority to make law for that property is ultimate ownership. In a democratic nation the sovereign is the people, collectively, over all the territory of that nation. What private parties can “own” is not the land itself, but an equitable interest in title to an estate in the land or property, and it is that equitable interest to which they are entitled for compensation if the title to the estate is taken…

…Allodial title is the title to land generally held in freehold, by an individual or group that is sovereign on that land. Thus, in English law, only the monarch holds allodial title. All others are tenants of the sovereign through their feudal vassalages. Sovereigns generally gain allodial title either by grant of another sovereign to such title, or through right of conquest. In this respect, while colonial American land grants were typically feudal grants in fee-simple, the victory of the American cause in the American Revolutionary War is considered an act of conversion to allodial title, such that the king was no longer the sovereign of the colonies. However, the new holders in this case are the several states that engaged in the revolution, and it is upon this basis that the practice of fee-simple titles is continued in the United States. This is an issue of dispute by some constitutionalist and property rights groups, with some individuals occasionally attempting to patent allodial titles to their land. Some states, notably Nevada, have instituted an Allodial Title Program in which property owners can purchase allodial title to their land essentially by paying an amount discounted from the sum of all future property taxes for the term of the owner’s life expectancy.

…In the United States, the right for the government to take private real or personal property predates the constitution and goes back to English Common Law. This right was implicitly recognized in the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1791, which reads, “…nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”…

…In Canada expropriation is governed by federal or provincial statutes. Under these statutory regimes public authorities have the right to acquire private property for public purposes, so long as the acquisition is approved by the appropriate government body. Once property is taken, an owner is entitled to “be made whole” by compensation…

…Many countries recognize eminent domain to a much lesser extent than the English-speaking world or do not recognize it at all. Japan, for instance, has very weak eminent domain powers, as evidenced by the high-profile opposition to the expansion of Narita International Airport, and the disproportionate amounts of financial inducement given to residents on sites slated for redevelopment in return for their agreement to leave, one well-known recent case being that of Roppongi Hills….

Note how far behind our society is compared with libertarian doctrine on property rights.

(Original Post)