I want to share my concern about an issue that started off as trespassing and now may open up access to private land throughout the province.
It began with my asking a stranger not to cross my property to access a local creek to fish.
There is public access to the creek further along the road but the stranger insisted that this was where he wanted to fish.
Repeated visits, despite my requests that he leave my property, led to verbal abuse from the stranger, damage to my property and anxiety for my family.
When I erected a fence, the stranger had an underage son crawl under it to access my land. He was subsequently charged with the trespassing committed by the minor.
Five or six court appearances have resulted in a court order that prevents the stranger and his minor children from coming within 200 metres of my property except that it will not be a breach for him to be on/in the waterway so long as they do not come onto the shore or stop on the section of the waterway that crosses my land.
Waterbodies fall under the federal department of Fisheries and Oceans while trespassing is under provincial jurisdiction.
This no contact court order expires in September 2025 at which time I am to produce the land surveyor who conducted land surveys of my property and a staff member of the local department of planning and development services.
The issue in dispute is land use/trespass issues related to access to waterbodies when private land is involved.
My fear is that this may be a precedent-setting case that affects all landowners in the province whos property contains waterbodies.
The presiding judge has suggested that the case may run into years and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. I am not able to represent the whole province so I am interested in hearing from anyone with similar experiences or concerns.
Colin Minty,
Mountain View County
