Maintain Expropriation Act Rights
Petitioners ask the Government of Canada to keep the Expropriation Act's rights and remedies and not amend the Act in any way that would remove or diminish citizens' challenge, objection and review rights.
Why we would sign this petition
- Keeps existing legal safeguards so individuals and communities can challenge expropriations and seek remedies, preserving access to justice.
- Protects farmland-owning families by retaining objection and review rights if projects like railways affect their land.
- Helps ensure fairness, transparency and social acceptance of public projects by preserving public review mechanisms and reducing long-term community harm.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Keeping all current procedures could prolong approvals and raise costs, delaying time-sensitive infrastructure projects.
- Strict protections might complicate routing or construction of projects considered in the public interest, making some projects harder to complete.
- Targeted reforms could balance procedural protections with streamlined processes; forbidding any amendments may prevent improvements that protect rights while speeding delivery.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the House of Commons The Expropriation Act currently grants citizens fundamental rights and remedies in the event of expropriation, including challenge, objection and review mechanisms; That any amendment that would remove or diminish these rights and remedies would weaken the protection of individuals and communities likely to be affected by federal projects; That the proposed construction of major infrastructure projects, including railway projects, is likely to require the use of farmland owned by farming families; That some of these families and communities have already lived through major expropriations in the past, particularly in connection with the Mirabel Airport in 1969, which left deeply significant human, economic and social consequences that continue to be felt; and That comprehensive legal safeguards must be maintained to ensure the fairness, transparency and social acceptability of projects in the public interest. We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to fully maintain the rights and remedies provided for in the Expropriation Act and refrain from amending that Act in any way that would remove or diminish the rights and remedies available to citizens in the event of expropriation.
Government response
No government response is available yet.