Do farmers have a legal case against new imposing laws?

By Geri Kamenz, OFA president

The pressure keeps building for farmers and their organizations to take action to protect farm business assets and operating practices. This pressure is coming from our provincial government with a variety of legislative measures.

As the government enacts such legislation as the Greenbelt Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, farmers are potentially losing equity or incurring additional costs. In one way or another, these acts restrict farm business operations, impose business costs or reduce the value of our farm assets.

These legislative measures expropriate farmland for the public good and provide no clear or direct compensation to Ontario farmers. In legal terms, these Acts impart injurious effects on the province’s farmers.

Ontario Federation of Agriculture members are now calling on their organization to counteract this form of government legislation. Some of the legislation includes provision for financial instruments or stewardship funds, but it is obvious the legislation will cause farmers to bear the costs of a public good.

Getting legal advice in matters such as this can prove very costly. That’s why OFA is appealing to all county federations of agriculture to contribute one dollar per member to a legal fund to examine these legislated impacts. OFA wants to determine if there is a cause for legal action that could be pursued to address the injurious effects of the different government acts.

Based on input provided from OFA members throughout the province and recent studies that looked at how land values have dropped because of the government’s actions, it is obvious Ontario farmers are footing the bill for the green spaces our government wants to provide the general public.

We are also finding access to productive farmland disappearing as government regulations impose boundaries to protect drinking water sources for urban populations.

The situation is much the same when government laws are enacted to protect endangered species. Efforts to protect just one identified endangered species can mean the loss of large areas of productive farmland. All at the expense of the farmer under today’s conditions.

Farmers understand the need to protect endangered species, to ensure safe drinking water, and to preserve open spaces so society can enjoy the environment, but we don’t understand why our government expects us to pay the price for these actions out of our own pocket.

That’s why OFA is proposing a legal review to fully explore our options in these situations. The OFA will investigate all possible options to stop the drain on farm businesses from these three provincial Acts. The work will also set the stage for future legislation and the rights of farmers.