NAVAN — The fugitive farm family has come out of hiding thanks to their new bodyguards – members of the Ontario Landowners Association.

The Van Hauves returned to their home near Navan, east of Ottawa January 27 amidst a throng of supporters, news media, and the incoming Conservative MP for Prescott-Russell Pierre Lemieux. Chesterville dairy farmer Susanna Cayer even baked cookies and muffins for the crowd of more than 100 people. Michel Van Hauve turned 45 on the day that he, his wife and 17-year-old son were chauffeured home in a van driven by the president of the Ontario Landowners Association president Randy Hillier. A large and intimidating tractor was then driven into the Van Hauve laneway to block any unwelcome traffic, specifically anyone representing the law.

With his wife hugging him on their porch, Van Hauve quietly wept. Five news cameras and even more photographers peered up at them. His boss brought him a birthday cake.

Michel Van Hauve was a milker on Pierre Etter’s farm, when his work visa expired and he was ordered to leave the country. The family had been in Canada eight years and never had any problems renewing their visas until now, they said.

Canadian Border Services ordered Van Hauve out of the country January 12 due to a breaking and entering charge that dates back to Van Hauves’s teenage years in Belgium. The OLA maintains that Van Hauve is being picked on since his boss was the farmer that dumped a dead cow on former Liberal MP Don Boudria’s driveway.

In an effort to garner support for the family, lawyer Warren Creates stressed that his client Van Hauve is hard working, doing a job other Canadians won’t do and would be sent to Belgium where he would be unemployed.

"This is a guy who wakes up at 4 a.m. and goes to bed at 10 p.m. running this farm," Creates said. He added that they have asked the federal government for a 120-extension to get their papers in order. The OLA’s Randy Hillier says he has pulled every political trick in the book to get a copy of Van Hauve’s criminal record from Belgian authorities. The document, which Hillier recently obtained, was necessary to complete the family’s permanent residency application, Hillier said.

A Canada-wide warrant remains outstanding for the Van Hauve family, although a Canada Border Services spokesman said the agency is not looking for a confrontation. That view favours Hillier, as a person can be charged for hiding someone under a warrant.

The OLA staged a protest on January 12, the day the Van Hauves were supposed to be on a plane to Belgium. The same day, OLA members whisked the family into hiding.