The minister responsible says he won’t be evicting anyone squatting on Crown land.
Minister Gerry Byrne was responding to yesterday’s AG report in which Denise Hanrahan slammed the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture’s ability to effectively manage the system.
She told reporters yesterday that systemic issues created opportunities for misuse, and the illegal occupation of Crown lands.
Byrne says that’s precisely the reason why he decided to take “such bold action” in making legislative changes to the Lands Act, which has not seen any substantive changes over the last five decades.
He says Hanrahan has suggested that people occupying Crown lands illegally, should be removed, but Byrne says he’s taking what he calls a more “applicant-friendly approach” both in updating timelines, and addressing those who may not meet the test of law.
“Even though you don’t meet the test of law, if your primary home, your residence, your castle, sits on land which you cannot prove under the test of law is your land, under Section 36 Squatter’s Rights, we’re going to provide you with a pathway to get that good title.”
As for why the problem had been allowed to fester for decades causing untold conflict and strife, Byrne says the previous 12 administrations also had the opportunity to act, but didn’t.
He cites a blue-ribbon panel put together in 2015 by the former PC government under Paul Davis to amend the Crown Lands Act, that came back with what he calls “three very specific demands and expectations when it came to squatter’s rights.”
“It said squatter’s rights must die, you should accept no more squatter’s rights applications,” and enforcement should be used to remove people illegally occupying Crown land. Byrne says the former policy is “a policy of failure. “You have to accommodate fair-minded, fair and reasonable behaviour wherever possible, while still depending on the rule of law when it comes to Crown lands.”
Hanrahan says Crown lands represents 88 per cent of the province and is a key area for provincial stewardship for the social economic benefit of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
She says processing times varied according to region and in most cases, came in long after the recommended benchmarks.
“We found the average age of the policy documents we sampled was 20 years, and of particular concern, there were significant inconsistencies across the regions with respect to processing. Regarding application processing, something that government speaks of a 90 day business day processing standard for routine applications, we found that 2 out of 3 of those applications took longer.”
AG’s Report Concerning, says PC Critic
Pleaman Forsey
Opposition forestry critic Pleaman Forsey calls the AG’s report concerning.
He says the administrative mismanagement outlined by Denise Hanrahan raises serious doubts about the province’s ability to create meaningful legislation to address the problem.
Forsey says he’s hearing from residents who are frustrated with the system.
He’s hoping the province will address some of the concerns over wait times for approvals.
He says a “comprehensive overhaul of Crown lands and management is certainly equally critical here.”
