Ontario Landowners Association
Encyclopedia
The Ontario Landowners Association is an organization which seeks to protect property rights in Ontario
, Canada. The OLA was formed "...to preserve and protect the rights of property owners and to enshrine property rights within the Constitution of Canada and the laws of the Province of Ontario." The organization seeks to cause laws and regulations, whether federal, provincial, or municipal, to be written so as to be more respectful of the rights of property owners.
The Lanark Landowners had grown out of an effort to set up a group to advise Scott Reid, the MP for Lanark
, on agricultural issues. An initial meeting in April 2003, with Reid present, was held at the kitchen table of Merle Bowes, a Carleton Place farmer. Randy Hillier
, who would go on to serve as the first president of the Lanark Landowners, was also present at the meeting. Bowes later observed that no matter what farm-related issue was being discussed at the meeting, “All the problems pointed back to property rights and that got us going.”
The Lanark Landowners’ first action, in May 2003, was a demonstration to protest a property standards by-law in the town of Mississippi Mills. The next month, the group conducted an illegal out-of-season deer hunt to draw attention to the refusal of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to permit farmers to cull deer who were eating their crops. Media were invited to the hunt, and ministry officials were presented with a choice between three options: arresting the farmers for taking an action necessary to save their livelihoods, tolerating an ongoing violation of the law, or loosening the criteria for issuing out-of-season cull licences.
The association, which advocates for rural rights and less government, once sent a photo of a bullet-riddled dead deer to Queen’s Park with the name tag Leona, a reference to Leona Dombrowsky when she was Premier Dalton McGuinty’s agriculture minister.
Within weeks, the third option had been chosen, and the Landowners had won a high-profile victory.
This victory emboldened the group, and Hillier rapidly built a high profile in the Ontario media, conducting increasingly large demonstrations in rural Ontario. The highest-profile demonstrations took place on Parliament Hill
in Ottawa
in April 2004, and in March 2005 in Toronto on front lawn of the Ontario Legislature. Future Prime Minister Stephen Harper
attended the Ottawa rally and addressed the crowd, endorsing property rights.
Local groups modeled on the Lanark model grew up across Ontario over the next three years. By the time of the first convention of the Ontario Landowners Association in Belleville
in February 2006, the combined membership of all the local groups was claimed by The Landowner (a magazine started by the Landowners in early 2006) to be over 8,000. Hillier was elected as the organization’s first president.
After the creation of the OLA in 2006, acts of civil disobedience mostly ended, and were replaced by attempts to influence the political system by more traditional means. Landowner-endorsed candidates ran for municipal office in many rural municipalities in the 2006 Ontario municipal elections. Hillier and other members of the OLA began to appear as witnesses before parliamentary hearings into issues affecting rural areas.
In January 2007, Hillier resigned as president of the OLA to seek the Progressive Conservative nomination in Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington
the upcoming provincial election. Some members of the party suggested that Hillier's activist past made him an unsuitable candidate, and the Toronto Star
speculated that the party might disqualify him, but in the end Hillier won the nomination and was elected to the legislature, where he currently serves. The presidency was taken over by Jack MacLaren
, a farmer from rural Ottawa who had previously been a leader of the de-amalgamation movement calling for the re-establishment of the old Carleton County
out of the four rural townships that had been amalgamated into the City of Ottawa in 2001.
By the summer of 2008, the OLA had expanded to 20 chapters, including one in Toronto, and had become a large enough movement to attract the attention of the Governor General’s Leadership Group, which arranged a meeting with the OLA in June.
Under the heading “rural people”, the magazine includes lifestyle articles on such subjects as “Forgotten Foods” (which describes how to turn cattails, milkweed and acorns into delicacies), or on how to repair an old-fashioned wood cookstove. A regular feature is a column called “Blurbs on Herbs”, which advises on growing, storing and using edible and decorative herbs.
As part of its mandate to report on rural politics, The Landowner provides updates on the activities of the Landowner movement and also on issues that are important to the property right movement. Typical articles report on zoning laws, expensive water and land-use regulations, and editorials on bureaucratic tangles that make it difficult to farm, to sell home-made products at farmers’ markets, or to carry on independent business activities in rural areas.
Typical articles from the “rural business” part of the magazine include a discussion of whether it makes sense to install a biodigester
on your farm to turn animal manure into methane which can be burned to generate electricity, and a regular update on the bait fishing industry.
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada. The OLA was formed "...to preserve and protect the rights of property owners and to enshrine property rights within the Constitution of Canada and the laws of the Province of Ontario." The organization seeks to cause laws and regulations, whether federal, provincial, or municipal, to be written so as to be more respectful of the rights of property owners.
History
The Ontario Landowners Association was founded in December 2005 by delegates from twelve pre-existing landowners groups representing different rural areas of the province. The groups had already been cooperating closely, and for the most part were modeled on the Lanark Landowners Association, which had been conducting demonstrations and other activities since early 2003. A parallel group, the Renfrew Landowners Association, had existed since 2000 and had started the slogan, “This Land is Our Land: Back off Government” that would be adopted by the Lanark Landowners and eventually by the OLA. But it was the Lanark group that first tried to move beyond purely local issues and to recreate itself in different parts of the province.The Lanark Landowners had grown out of an effort to set up a group to advise Scott Reid, the MP for Lanark
Lanark County, Ontario
Lanark County is a county located in the Canadian province of Ontario. As of 2006, the population is 63,785. Its county seat is Perth.The county took its name from the town of Lanark in Scotland.-Geography:...
, on agricultural issues. An initial meeting in April 2003, with Reid present, was held at the kitchen table of Merle Bowes, a Carleton Place farmer. Randy Hillier
Randy Hillier (politician)
Randy Hillier is a rural activist and politician in Ontario, Canada. He was elected as a Progressive Conservative MPP for Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington during the 2007 Ontario general election...
, who would go on to serve as the first president of the Lanark Landowners, was also present at the meeting. Bowes later observed that no matter what farm-related issue was being discussed at the meeting, “All the problems pointed back to property rights and that got us going.”
The Lanark Landowners’ first action, in May 2003, was a demonstration to protest a property standards by-law in the town of Mississippi Mills. The next month, the group conducted an illegal out-of-season deer hunt to draw attention to the refusal of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to permit farmers to cull deer who were eating their crops. Media were invited to the hunt, and ministry officials were presented with a choice between three options: arresting the farmers for taking an action necessary to save their livelihoods, tolerating an ongoing violation of the law, or loosening the criteria for issuing out-of-season cull licences.
The association, which advocates for rural rights and less government, once sent a photo of a bullet-riddled dead deer to Queen’s Park with the name tag Leona, a reference to Leona Dombrowsky when she was Premier Dalton McGuinty’s agriculture minister.
Within weeks, the third option had been chosen, and the Landowners had won a high-profile victory.
This victory emboldened the group, and Hillier rapidly built a high profile in the Ontario media, conducting increasingly large demonstrations in rural Ontario. The highest-profile demonstrations took place on Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill , colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Its Gothic revival suite of buildingsthe parliament buildings serves as the home of the Parliament of Canada and contains a number of architectural...
in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
in April 2004, and in March 2005 in Toronto on front lawn of the Ontario Legislature. Future Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
attended the Ottawa rally and addressed the crowd, endorsing property rights.
Local groups modeled on the Lanark model grew up across Ontario over the next three years. By the time of the first convention of the Ontario Landowners Association in Belleville
Belleville, Ontario
Belleville is a city located at the mouth of the Moira River on the Bay of Quinte in Southern Ontario, Canada, in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. It is the seat of Hastings County, but is politically independent of it. and the centre of the Bay of Quinte Region...
in February 2006, the combined membership of all the local groups was claimed by The Landowner (a magazine started by the Landowners in early 2006) to be over 8,000. Hillier was elected as the organization’s first president.
After the creation of the OLA in 2006, acts of civil disobedience mostly ended, and were replaced by attempts to influence the political system by more traditional means. Landowner-endorsed candidates ran for municipal office in many rural municipalities in the 2006 Ontario municipal elections. Hillier and other members of the OLA began to appear as witnesses before parliamentary hearings into issues affecting rural areas.
In January 2007, Hillier resigned as president of the OLA to seek the Progressive Conservative nomination in Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington
Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington
Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004....
the upcoming provincial election. Some members of the party suggested that Hillier's activist past made him an unsuitable candidate, and the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
speculated that the party might disqualify him, but in the end Hillier won the nomination and was elected to the legislature, where he currently serves. The presidency was taken over by Jack MacLaren
Jack MacLaren
Jack MacLaren is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2011 election. He represents the electoral district of Carleton—Mississippi Mills as a member of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party caucus....
, a farmer from rural Ottawa who had previously been a leader of the de-amalgamation movement calling for the re-establishment of the old Carleton County
Carleton County, Ontario
Carleton County is the name of a historic county in Ontario, Canada. In 1969 it was superseded by the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton. In 2001 the Regional Municipality and the eleven local municipalities within it were replaced by the current City of Ottawa.-History:Carleton County was...
out of the four rural townships that had been amalgamated into the City of Ottawa in 2001.
By the summer of 2008, the OLA had expanded to 20 chapters, including one in Toronto, and had become a large enough movement to attract the attention of the Governor General’s Leadership Group, which arranged a meeting with the OLA in June.
"The Landowner" magazine
The OLA publishes a magazine, The Landowner. The first issue appeared early in 2006, and the magazine has been published every second month since that time. The magazine’s three areas of focus are stated on the front cover of every issue: “Rural people, rural politics, rural business.”Under the heading “rural people”, the magazine includes lifestyle articles on such subjects as “Forgotten Foods” (which describes how to turn cattails, milkweed and acorns into delicacies), or on how to repair an old-fashioned wood cookstove. A regular feature is a column called “Blurbs on Herbs”, which advises on growing, storing and using edible and decorative herbs.
As part of its mandate to report on rural politics, The Landowner provides updates on the activities of the Landowner movement and also on issues that are important to the property right movement. Typical articles report on zoning laws, expensive water and land-use regulations, and editorials on bureaucratic tangles that make it difficult to farm, to sell home-made products at farmers’ markets, or to carry on independent business activities in rural areas.
Typical articles from the “rural business” part of the magazine include a discussion of whether it makes sense to install a biodigester
Anaerobic digestion
Anaerobic digestion is a series of processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. It is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste and/or to release energy....
on your farm to turn animal manure into methane which can be burned to generate electricity, and a regular update on the bait fishing industry.