The Rural Voice, 1979-08, Page 9Update
Foreign absentee ownership
Since the Rural Voice reported on the issue of absentee foreign
ownership of farm land in the October 1978 issue, much has been
said, and many areas of Ontario have been looking closely to find
the extent that non-residents own a piece of Canada.
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) made a
presentation to the Ontario cabinet, requesting a survey to
define the extent of foreign land ownership in the province.
Minister of agriculture William Newman ordered an
investigation, saying at the same time that less than one per cent
of Ontario's agricultural land was owned by foreign interests.
In June he presented a paper disclosing the results of this
survey, which showed that the minister's estimate was very
accurate.
In the meantime, several independent people and county and
township federations had done, or are still doing, their own
surveys.
The reports from these are at considerable variance with that
of the OMAF study.
Lloyd Hutton, a realtor from Kincardine in Bruce County, has
found that properties in his sale area changed hands without the
local farmers having any chance to bid on them. He got excited
enough to request and get an audience with Mr. Newman and his
assistants Morris Huff and Verne Spencer.
In no uncertain terms Mr. Hutton told the minister that the
assessment of ministry people who made the report must be
faulty, for he knew personally that a European outfit, through a
Toronto company, had bought, and was in the market for more
farms in the Hanover and Gorrie area.
Mr. Newman's response was a challenge to prove the
allegations and he said then the ministry would take another
look.
Mr. Hutton took up the challenge and provided Verne Spencer
with the names and addresses of several investors, and the law
firms acting on their behalf in Ontario.
The OMAF paper said that " ... Huron county did not reveal
any foreign non-resident corporate directors."
Mr. Hutton told Mr. Spencer that foreign owners have title to
1870 acres in Ashfield township alone.
The OMAF paper's research was based on the amount of
foreign land transfer tax paid in the province.
A Kingston area agricultural reporter for the Kingston Whig
Standard, Ian Robertson, found that Hanover Farms Ltd., who
own at least 800 acres in Howick township, are not registered as
an Ontario corporation. The company is a division of Black Cliff
Mines Investment Ltd. and is registered with the Ontario
Securities Commission.
Mr. Robertson checked a few counties around Kingston and
found that in Prince Edward county, where the minister found no
foreign land ownership, 208 acres were registered and the
foreign land transfer tax had been paid in full.
In Perth county, the county federation of agriculture is doing a
township by township check and the results are startling.
Tony van Klooster, federation president, said that the first
three townships showed foreign ownership of approximately
2,000 acres, 1100 acres of that in Wallace township alone.
Thus far they've found that all the land is leased back to the
local farmers. The feeling in Perth, according to Mr. van
Klooster, is one of unconcern. The farms are not neglected and
buildings are kept in good shape. As long as that is the case no
one suffers.
Mr. van Klooster even knows of at least one case where the
absentee ownership is beneficial, as a young farmer leases land
for $50 an acre, which he would be unable to buy.
He thinks it absolutely essential that the federation keep
informed on the extent of absentee landowners, regardless if
they live in Canada or abroad. He feels any razing of buildings in
order to assemble Targe blocks of land and then come in twice a
year with large equipment would be disastrous for the
surrounding communities, and for the assessment of the
remaining farmers.
Merle Gunby, president of the Huron federation of
agriculture, agrees. It is important right now for Ashfield
township, where so much land is already in foreign hands, and it
is potentially important for all of Canada, he said. "Now is the
time to investigate and do something, before it gets out of
hand," he says.
According to the OMAF paper, researchers have not found
one acre of farmland of European ownership in Perth. Mr. varfi
Klooster and his helpers have apparently done a more thorough
job, for Kurtzville Farms Ltd. alone owns 1,100 acres. And
Kurtzville Farms is owned by a German company.
Realtor Lloyd Hutton got a call for information from an
Austrian who wants 300 acres in the Teeswater area and 500
acres near Lucknow.
A Kitchener realtor wanted information on 300 acres for
German buyers.
These are no mere rumors. Mr. Hutton said that he knows of
one property for which investors paid $415,000. They Core down
fences and trees and resold the property six weeks later for
$600,000. He said that he doesn't begrudge them their profit,
but that this all went on without any local involvement, through a
big city broker. He thinks that the least those city brokers can do
is to advertise locally so local farmers have a chance to make a
bid.
Brian Ireland and Eldon McKinnon, past and present
president of the Bruce county federation respectively, say that
there doesn't seem to be a problem in Bruce county, but that the
farmers and the government should keep on top of it.
Mr. McKinnon agrees with the stand of Huron county
federation that large scale purchasing of agricultural land should
be resisted.
All felt Ontario's farmers are entitled to a better ownership
survey than the OMAF one.
THE RURAL VOICE/AUGUST 1979 PG. 7