YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'VE GOT - UNTIL THEY HAND YOU AN EXPROPRIATION NOTICE
IT'S JUST ANOTHER DAY ON THE JOB FOR GOVERNMENT
IT'S NOT ABOUT DERAILING THE LONG RANGE HIGHWAY II REALIGNMENT PROJECT. I'M DOUBTFUL THERE'S MUCH THAT CAN BE DONE NOW, TO CHANGE MTO'S PLAN FOR THE NORTH-SOUTH CORRIDOR. OF COURSE, STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED, LIKE GAS-FIRED POWER PLANTS THAT SEEM TO BE MOVABLE AROUND ELECTION SEASON. WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT, IS TO GET A CONSENSUS ON HOW CONSTITUENTS ARE FARING OUT THERE…..IN THE LONELY, BLEAK BATTLE AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT BEHEMOTH….MTO.
I WAS ASKED, QUITE A FEW YEARS BACK, TO SIT ON A SPECIAL PROJECT COMMITTEE, IN THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE. IT MAY HAVE BEEN IN THE LATE 1980'S BUT I JUST CAN'T REMEMBER PRECISELY. IT ALSO INVOLVED AN EXPANSION OF COMMUNITY SERVICES, AND THE MAYOR THOUGHT I'D BE A GOOD PERSON TO HAVE ON BOARD. AT THAT TIME, I WAS OUT OF THE DAY TO DAY NEWSPAPER BUSINESS, SO THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY WORRY I'D START REVEALING INSIDE PROCEEDINGS. I WENT TO THE FIRST MEETING, AND EVERYTHING SEEMED EXCITING, AND I WAS GLAD TO BE A PART OF SUCH PROGRESSIVE COMMUNITY-BUILDING PLANS. UNTIL THE DISCUSSION GOT AROUND TO PROPERTY ACQUISITION, OF COURSE, TO MAKE WAY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL. I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS FIRST, OR ASKED QUESTIONS AHEAD OF AGREEING TO JOIN THE COMMITTEE. I WAS REALLY CAUGHT OFF GUARD.
AS AN EDITOR, HAVING COVERED MANY SUCH MUNICIPAL AND PROVINCIAL SITUATIONS, INVOLVING EXPROPRIATION LAND-GRABS, I GASPED OUT LOUD, HEARING THE WORD, AS THE MEETING HIT THE HALFWAY POINT OF THE EVENING. BEING BUSY WITH A YOUNG FAMILY AND EXPERIENCING A FREELANCE WRITING BOOM, I SIMPLY HADN'T THOUGHT ABOUT THE WIDE RANGING SCOPE OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT IN ADVANCE. SUZANNE IS MY PERSONAL AND BUSINESS MANAGER IN THESE MATTERS, AND SHE HAD A SUSPICION I WASN'T GOING TO LIKE WHAT THE PROJECT INVOLVED, BEFORE ANY GROUND TURNING. BUT THAT WAS NO EXCUSE.
I SHOULD HAVE STUDIED THE PREAMBLE INFORMATION ON THE RE-DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL, BECAUSE I KNEW IT WAS ONE OF TWO SCENARIOS TO BE DISCUSSED. WHAT I HADN'T REALLY CONTEMPLATED, WAS THAT AFTER WORKING WITH THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, FOR A FEW MONTHS, MEMBERS WOULD THEN MAKE A RECOMMENDATION BACK TO COUNCIL, REGARDING OUR FIRST CHOICE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION SITE. IN PARTICULAR, IF WE CHOSE ONE LOCATION OVER THE OTHER, THE COLLATERAL DAMAGE WOULD HAVE HERALDED COSTLY PROPERTY ACQUISITION. EITHER BY REQUEST TO BUY NEIGHBOR PROPERTIES, OR BY LEGAL NOTICE THAT THE MUNICIPALITY REALLY, REALLY WANTED THE ADDITIONAL LAND. I KNEW THE OWNERS OF THESE PROPERTIES. SEVERAL WERE ELDERLY FOLKS WHO HAD LIVED IN THEIR HOME FOR MANY DECADES, AND WERE KNOWN FOR THEIR KINDNESSES THROUGHOUT THE TOWN. AND HERE I WAS, SITTING ON A COMMITTEE, THAT COULD HAVE MADE A DECISION, ULTIMATELY LEADING TO THE LEGAL ACQUISITION OF THEIR HOMESTEAD. FORCED TO MOVE BY A PROPERTY-LOVING GUY LIKE ME. I WAS IN THE WRONG CHAIR, FOR THE WRONG PROJECT, AND THE MERE MENTION OF EXPROPRIATION AS A PLAN B, PUSHED ME OUT THE DOOR, NEVER TO COME BACK.
I DON'T KNOW IF THE COMMITTEE CONTINUED OR NOT. I NEVER LOOKED BACK, ONCE OUTSIDE THE DOOR. I COULDN'T LIVE WITH MY CONSCIENCE, DEALING WITH SOMETHING LIKE EXPROPRIATION. IF THE TOWN OFFERED A PRICE FOR THE PROPERTY, THAT WAS ONE THING. INSISTING ON THE SALE, NOT SO NICE. THE PROJECT WAS SHELVED BUT PROPERTY ACQUISITION DID OCCUR BUT NOT EXPROPRIATION TO THE BEST OF MY REPORTER'S KNOWLEDGE. I CAN REMEMBER OTHER HUGE EXPROPRIATION ISSUES, SUCH AS DURING A ROAD WIDENING CONTRACT IN PORT SYDNEY, AND THE FIGHT BY AN ELDERLY WOMAN TO SAVE HER OLD HOME, LOOKING OUT OVER PICTURESQUE MARY LAKE. I REMEMBER WEEKS OF FRONT PAGE STORIES, AND EDITORIALS, TRYING TO CONVINCE THE MUNICIPALITY AGAINST THIS EXPROPRIATION ORDER. I'M PRETTY SURE A COMPROMISE WAS MADE IN THIS CASE, AND IT MAY HAVE INVOLVED SHIFTING THE HOUSE BACK ON THE LOT TO SPARE IT FROM BEING DEMOLISHED.
I HAVE SEEN DOZENS OF THESE SITUATIONS CREST OVER THE YEARS, AND IT ALWAYS SERVES AS A REMINDER JUST HOW PRECARIOUS DEMOCRACY CAN BE, WHEN USED BY GOVERNMENT TO GET WHAT IT WANTS. EMOTIONS BE DAMNED. PROGRESS WAITS FOR NO MAN….OR NO BUILDING IN THE WAY. ON THE SIDE OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN TOLD THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE ACQUIRING THEIR PROPERTY……WHAT OTHER REACTION CAN YOU HAVE BESIDE THAT OF DISGUST AND DISBELIEF. AND THEN THERE'S THE APPEAL PROCESS. ARBITRATION. ALL VERY UNPLEASANT SITUATIONS, THAT SCUFFS DEMOCRACY PRETTY BADLY, FOR THOSE WHO THOUGHT GOVERNMENT WAS FOR THE PEOPLE…..BUT ONLY PART OF THE TIME.
IN SOME COUNTRIES, THE GOVERNMENT TAKES WHAT IT WANTS. END OF STORY. WE READ ABOUT THESE LAND GRABS IN CHINA AND OFFER A LITTLE SILENT THANKS, WE LIVE IN A COUNTRY LIKE CANADA, WHERE STUFF LIKE THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN. THIS IS THE PROBLEM OF COURSE. MANY CANADIANS ARE UNDER INFORMED ABOUT THE KIND OF GOVERNMENT ACTIONS, THAT TO US POLITICAL WATCHERS, ARE UNDEMOCRATIC DOWN TO THE LAST DOT OF A ROGUE "i." IN FACT, THERE IS SELDOM A WEEK THAT GOES BY, THAT I DON'T GET HUNG UP ON SOME NEWS ARTICLE IN THE MEDIA, REMINDING ME OF THE DANGEROUS SIDE EFFECTS ON OUR CITIZEN DEMOCRACY, OF GOVERNMENT'S INTERPRETATIONS OF WHAT IS FAIR GAME, AND RIPE FOR CHANGE. THE PROPERTY OWNERS, BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTS GENERALLY, OF THE HIGHWAY II CORRIDOR, SOUTH OF THE URBAN AREA OF GRAVENHURST, ARE EXPERIENCING THIS GOVERNMENT INTERPRETATION OF FAIR PLAY RIGHT NOW. I DON'T KNOW WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THOSE FACING EVENTUAL EXPROPRIATION WILL AGREE THEY HAVE BEEN OFFERED A FAIR SETTLEMENT, VERSUS THE NUMBER WHO ARE OUTRAGED BY THE LOW-BALL PURCHASE PRICE. I DON'T KNOW ALL THE RULES OF ARBITRATION AND APPEAL FOR THESE EXPROPRIATION NOTICES, AND TO DATE, THE MEDIA HASN'T REALLY DONE MUCH INVESTIGATION IN THIS REGARD. THE TOWN HASN'T BEEN TOO EAGER TO RUFFLE FEATHERS ANYWHERE, AND WITH THE EXCEPTION OF AN ANGRY OUTBURST, RECENTLY, BY GRAVENHURST COUNCILLOR, LOLA BRATTY, IN DEFENSE OF THOSE CONSTITUENTS SUFFERING WITH THESE IMPENDING ORDERS, THE MATTER HASN'T RECEIVED THE ATTENTION IT OBVIOUSLY DESERVES. WE CAN THANK COUNCILLOR BRATTY FOR HER COURAGEOUS STAND, DESPITE THOSE ON COUNCIL WHO TOOK EXCEPTION TO SOME OF HER CUTTING POINTS OF VIEW ON THE MATTER.
IF YOU WERE IN THOSE SHOES……EITHER AS A COUNCILLOR REPRESENTING THOSE IN PERIL…..OR BEING IN PERIL YOURSELF
If I was a Gravenhurst Councillor, at this time, facing this particular issue of MTO expropriations, for the Highway II realignment, I'd have no choice but to side with those property owners in crisis. It wouldn't matter if the MTO project was the best darn thing to come along, and a boon to the future of Gravenhurst. I couldn't remain an elected official, without following my conscience, and my respect for democracy, to find out everything relevant about property owner chagrin, along this zone. And of course, where the old Highway will remain, as nothing but a service artery once construction is complete, more than a decade and a half from now. There is still an imbedded responsibility here, despite personal opinion, to do the right thing for the constituents you represent. I do know for fact, and by personal experience…..of which there is a lot of corroborating evidence, I'd be just as much a rogue, as I am presently, and despite what council may decide as a whole……I would follow my conscience and nothing less. Having had the experience close to home, of a municipal government's intention to sell off a small but significant urban wetland, "The Bog," I know how daunting it is, to look at the uphill climb, and all the inherent risks of the mission……knowing full well that money is in short supply to pay for legal defense. I watched it happen in Bracebridge, at Jubilee Park, and while it didn't involve expropriation, it did involve stepping on constituent rights, to get what the town wanted. I walked the protest line with residents in that neighborhood, and I saw and heard the way they were being portrayed and abused by the democracy they thought was supposed to be fair and equal. I saw very little of that, and I felt horrible that we couldn't have fought better and harder, to keep Jubilee Park……an historic and important urban open space. We were lucky with The Bog, because we were far more organized than the town was, and even before they could mount an offense, we had enough opposition, and promise of money for legal representation, to get the upper hand early in the fight. Of course, we weren't battling the Province either, and expropriation proceedings. Now that is daunting.
Sitting having an after dinner coffee, or cup of tea, and opening the day's mail, imagine getting a government notice……and finding out, even before you've had a chance to relax from the day's toil, that your home, business, industry, or residency generally, is being expropriated for a new stretch of urban friendly highway. Or finding out that the busy road you counted on, for business, (with attached property value investment) was going to become an eventual utility road…..decreasing the investment value of all the fronting property. For miles and miles. It's impossible for those unaffected, to appreciate how devastating this has been, for the majority of these constituents. And while there will be those who suggest, that many knew this was a possibility, even before buying property along the stretch, the way it has come down the pike has been startling, unsettling, and to some, completely unexpected at this time……fifteen to twenty years before the work will commence. The problem of course, that with this news and action taken by MTO, well in advance of the project's commencement, property values are being affected, and with so many unknowns, and a diminishing economy, I think these folks have every right to feel they're being screwed by the pillar of democracy……using a double edged sword to slice and dice.
In the mid to late 1980's, as an editor with Muskoka Publications, I got a story tip about highway easements in our region, that may one day provide huge changes to our transportation network. I had heard of a cross region proposal that would basically cut across from the Highway 400 extension (which was not yet developed), in the Coldwater vicinity, and direct traffic through to just south of Gravenhurst. One recent connection incorporated the existing Highway 69, and brought with it huge repairs to this important and heavily travelled link to the north…..traveling many miles through the Township of Georgian Bay. The other concept was to route it north to Gravenhurst, through a lot of bogland. When I contacted the Ministry office, and spoke with a representative in their planning department, he was quite surprised I was aware of such futuristic plans, and didn't confirm or deny that it might have been a consideration……at some point. What I found out however, was that as far as easements and future plans, there are a lot of them out there, that should be known to everyone purchasing neighborhood property. Property owners, who may one day, be affected by new government protocols…..and nasty expropriations. I knew a local chap, who accidentally found out he had such an easement across his land, and he hadn't known the serious consequence when he made the purchase. Government, at least at the provincial level, doesn't really care about your emotional well being, when they present the documentation, that indicates how serious they are about developing what you thought you owned…… without encumbrance. Some property owners, in our area, knew this was a distinct possibility years ago. Some didn't want to think about it. A few made purchases without appreciating the full extent of the law, when it comes to government initiatives. Many were just caught off-guard, ill prepared, and vulnerable. Having a pretty fair knowledge of what this process can feel like, and how bleak the upward climb for justice, I heartily concur with those who believe the process is undemocratic. But it's done all the time. They've had a lot of practice, and I don't imagine the property acquisition on this small length of highway corridor, ranks as a big project.
It's now fallen on the shoulders of our town council. Council is seen as the protector of local democracy. The guardian of constituent rights and fair representation. I don't expect them to be able to stop this runaway freight train, but they do need to stand up for constituents who are in peril, and find themselves having to fight the province to ensure their rights. They need to know our council is prepared to help them out, of what must seem like a desperate situation.
We're sorry it's happening. But it's the way the system works. But democracy allows us the privilege of protest, and of this, we should make sure our voices of objection are heard.
Thank you so much for joining me today. There's always room for more, to crowd around my little hearth, here at Birch Hollow. See you again soon.
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