There has been much concern and controversy throughout Ponoka regarding the recently publicized Bill 19 Land Assembly Project Area Act.
The Bill was introduced on March 2 and soon became a major issue among various landowners in Ponoka and around the province.
On March 14 at 2 p.m. at the Ponoka Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion members of Ponoka and area had the chance to have their questions cleared up and acquire more information on Bill 19.
The informative event was initiated by Joe Anglin, leader of the Alberta Green Party, to help give Albertans the tools to discern Bill 19.
The meeting was also attended by four MLAs from around Central Alberta including MLA for Lacombe—Ponoka, Ray Prins.
Bill 19 deals with property rights. The purpose of it is to make it easier for the province to put together big chunks of land, over time, for major public projects such as ring roads or powerlines.
By the conditions of Bill 19, the province would not have to expropriate the land right away. It could just not allow the landowner to make major changes to the property if it could hinder the province’s future development plans.
Anglin expressed that he was not against development and corridors for powerlines, etc. but he was against the amount of power he believed the bill could give to the minister.
Anglin was against how the bill was worded and stressed that the wording of the Bill gave too much power to the minister and could possibly strip away the rights of Albertans if abused. He said that this probably would not happen but that it did give full rights to them and that there is the possibility that it could be misused.
Anglin said that Bill 19 gives the minister unbridled power, without having to protect the rights of landowners in the province. He said under the new legislation that the minister could issue an enforcement order if they are ‘of the opinion’ a person has violated a regulation, without evidence or the person being found guilty. The person could be fined up to 100,000 or spend six months in jail if they do not act in accordance.
He said that the bill could make government expropriation of property less open and take away the right for landowners to be informed or notified of future government projects.
Anglin dissected Bill 19 and highlighted areas where he thought Albertans’ rights could be in danger because of the power that is given to the minister of infrastructure through Bill 19.
“They have unbridled power with this bill,” said Anglin. “I’m not saying their intent is to abuse this power but we would be handing this down to our children and grandchildren. Could someone be elected who would abuse this power?”
He showed the crowd of people that the wording in Bill 19 could potentially disregard their rights if this Bill is passed, including the right to question the project, the right of notification, to have the property appraised, the option to buy the property back if the project is cancelled, and much more.
Not all landowners believe that this Bill will take away existing rights and some even believe that it may enhance landowner rights.
MLA Ray Prins had the opportunity to speak and expressed to those present that the MLAs are listening intently to the concerns of Albertans and that they will take that information and landowners concerns to the minister. He voiced that he did not think that rights were being taken away and that believes that landowners will be notified before any corridor areas would be developed.
Prins said that Bill 19 is in its first reading and that MLAs still have a chance to make amendments to it.
Anglin ended by encouraging Albertans to write or call their MLAs and/ or the premier to tell them to vote no on this bill. He also challenged everyone, when reading Bill 19 to ask themselves, ‘what if’ questions.
“I see no value in this bill. This bill has the potential to strip away your rights, it doesn’t give you more than what is already in legislation, we need to stop this bill,” said Anglin. “We don’t lose our rights from the point of a gun, we lose them one piece of paper at a time. We need to plan for the future and do it wisely.”