The Progressive Conservative (PC) government of Alberta introduced amendments to the Land Assembly Project Area Act and passed first reading of Bill 23 in the legislature on Nov. 21.
Former Bill 19 came under fire from landowner groups and was the subject of heated criticism at 55 town hall meetings across the province from Keith Wilson and the Landowners Against Bills Society.
The changes “get right to the heart” of concerns brought forward, said Infrastructure Minister Jeff Johnson, in a media conference call on Thursday. “Bill 23 is a major step forward for landowners in our province,” he said.
Amendments would provide access to compensation under the Expropriation Act, a target of criticism at Wilson’s town hall meetings.
“Property owners will now be able to trigger expropriation … at the time of their choosing,” Johnson said. If landowners are unhappy with how negotiations are going, they can trigger expropriation through a land compensation board or the courts, he said. Landowners will have the option of selling the land to the government and then leasing it back until needed for the project, Johnson said.
“We made sure to clarify in the act property owners will have access to all applicable forms of compensation under the Expropriation Act, right from the moment their land is designated as part of a project.”
The proposed amendment fixes the clause that stated government could “freeze” land for indefinite periods with no compensation under the Expropriation Act, said Wilson, a St. Albert lawyer who held meetings opposing Bills 19, 36 and 50 across the province including in Elk Point and St. Paul.
“The problem with the bill was it sidestepped the Expropriation Act, gave government powers they didn’t have before and deprived landowners and business owners and farmers of the protections they were afforded.”
After two years of campaigning against the bills passed in 2009, Wilson said the government finally listened to what he was saying and made some of the changes he was calling for.
If passed, Bill 23 would give property owners more options if their land is required for a major infrastructure project, according to a press release from Alberta Infrastructure. The amendments clarify what types of projects fall under the act and give property owners a “clearer process” when government “buys land for long-term, large scale transportation projects like ring roads or water reservoirs,” the press release states. The amendments say the bill cannot be used for “standalone” utility or pipeline projects.
Violating an enforcement order came with the possibility of a jail sentence in the original bill. The government had a closer look at past activities and disagreements on public projects with landowners and found “there was very little that we couldn’t work through.”
Albertans felt the penalties in Bill 19 were too heavy handed, said Johnson. “We agreed … It was maybe a little bit too far and Albertans were right, and we listened and we took it out.”
Bill 23 would take out the section that permitted the government to file with the court for an enforcement order, as opposed to going to court for the order. Amendments address concerns about access to courts to challenge compensation and enforcement orders, he added.
According to Johnson, Bill 19 was an improvement from what government used before it, adding “we made it even better.” Under the original act, the government must notify and consult with a landowner if property is being considered for project and must decide within two years if the land will be used for a project. “We don’t have the ability as we did with the RDAs (Restricted Development Area) to drag this out for even decades as we decide what pieces of land would be in or would be out.”
The problem the amendments will not fix, according to Wilson, is a section that indicates a notice of the control order must be given to the head of the municipality and any person having an interest in the land, including banks. The section affects mortgaged land and financing arrangements where land or buildings have been used as collateral or security, he said.
“I think banks are going to pull financing,” said Wilson. “I think the banks are going to say, ‘I think this is way too much risk for us. This significantly changes our position relative to the land or the business’ and people will find shortly after the order comes on, they’ll get a notice from the bank saying we’re pulling our financing.”
Section 10 says anyone with an “interest” is also responsible for the obligations of the landowner under the control order. Wilson would like to see Bill 23 amended to address the concern before it passes.
“They’ve done no consultation with the banks,” he said. “The mortgage is bumped down in priority on the title. The bank’s rights will be subordinated to the rights of the government under the order.”
Johnson said he is not aware of any banking or lending institutions that have withdrawn capital on any public projects in the province. The bill gives a “great deal of certainty” that land will be fairly compensated if it’s needed and that it is liquid because it can be sold at any time, said Johnson.
“There’s probably a lot more assurance and certainty than a bank would normally have if they’re just loaning money for land for normal practices.”
The ability to access credit or the potential for banks or lending institutions to want to call loans or not fund land within a project area has not been a major issue with landowners, banks, stakeholder groups or the legal community, he said.
“If it bears out to be a significant concern, it is something that we’re certainly happy to look at,” he said. “We are going through continuous improvement on these bills.”
Wilson credited the awareness created by groups like the Landowners Against Bills Society and the town hall meetings for prompting the government to fix the legislation. Wilson’s meetings were attended by 13,000 people over the year, something he said put pressure on government.
