By Sheena Bolton

CORNWALL - Randy Hillier spend for hours in jail for trespassing and, upon his release, returned to the scene of the crime to immediately "trespass" again and broker a speaking engagement.

The Ontario Landowners' Association president pushed his way through a group of eight or more police officers May 16 and led about 200 supporters to a conference centre where delegates discussed water issues. Hillier opened two sliding doors at the NavCan Centre on Highway 2 to face another group of police officers. Through police and a conference organizer, Hillier then negotiated a turn at the microphone for five minutes in front of 40 delegates. Vice president Merle Bowes also spoke for five minutes. 

Hours earlier, however, Hillier was hauled away in handcuffs for trespassing while he was walking on the grass outside. He argued that the property is publicly owned. Police released him from what Hillier later called "Hotel Cornwall" after Ontario Minister of Environment Laurel Broten left the conference.

The landowners' demonstration was held at the 13th annual International Conference on the St. Lawerence River Ecosystem, which discussed Bill 43 (Ontario's Clean Water Act). 

The OLA opposes Bill 43 because they say it introduces new heavy-handed restrictions. When Hillier addressed the conference, he said: "This bill allows bureaucrats the authority to seize and confiscate private property without consent or compensation, allowing bureaucrats to enter private property without warrant or reason."

Bowes discusses the future of rural life if Bill 43 is approved. "Rural people will not exist," he said. "I run a seventh generation farm but if Bill 43 is passed there will be no more farms, ending a way of life."

This is because of the strict land restrictions around open water and streams, he said.

"In the weeks leading up to a planned demonstration over Bill 43 the OLA negotiated with the Cornwall Police, who agreed to the terms and conditions for a peaceful demonstration to be set and held on the property at NavCan," Hillier later said.

What follows are a few of the problems the OLA has with Bill 43:

Section 54 and 58: "A person authorized to enter property for the purpose of doing a thing may call on police officers as necessary and may use force as necessary to make the entry and do the thing." 

Section 47 and 53 allows municipalities to charge for water extraction permits and inspection on private wells and septic systems.