Land ownership laws in Sask & Can

[Guest]

Hedgehogs accidental post on Scottish tenant farmers getting evicted should be an eye opener .That is what happens when billionaires are allowed to buy up all the land .
Do you think this won't happen here ? Canada is a young country , thats why we need canadian or saskatchewan citizen ownership laws to stop this , whether it hurts our own bottom line or not . does anyone think any young person starting out farming can pay 4-500k for a quarter ?? but the billionaires can and will, and our young farmers will work for them

[bucket]

Caseih

Agriculture is slowly moving back to the Lord and serf method.

There will be plenty of peasants happy to be running state of the art machinery with their lunch kit and bottle of vodka in the cab.

It's been tried everywhere else - why not here.

Government people that get elected by us but told by some other master how it will be done.

[Oliver88]

It sounds like the laws will be changing in Saskatchewan in the new year.


I'm not sure of rules for other provinces though.

[bucket]

The moves that need to be made have been made. Now they will tighten the loophole a little but the process is well on its way.

[Oliver88]

Found this on Saskatchewan government website. Call in or email for more information.



Legislation for Farmland Ownership to be Introduced

Released on October 20, 2015

Today, Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart introduced amendments to The Saskatchewan Farm Security Act. The legislative amendments will clarify who can own farmland and will provide the Farm Land Security Board (FLSB) with more authority to enforce the Act.

“This summer, we asked the people of Saskatchewan to share their views to help us inform our decision on farmland ownership,” Stewart said. “They did, and as a result we are making changes that will keep farmland accessible to Saskatchewan’s farmers and ranchers. I am pleased to announce that we are clarifying the rules around farmland ownership in the province.”

Legislative amendments to The Saskatchewan Farm Security Act will enshrine the regulations introduced in April as law.

Amendments including:
Making pension plans, administrators of pension fund assets and trusts not eligible to buy farmland;
Defining “having an interest in farmland” to include any type of interest or benefit (i.e. capital appreciation), either directly or indirectly, that is normally associated with ownership of the land; and
When financing a purchase of farmland, all financing must be through a financial institution registered to do business in Canada, or a Canadian resident.
In addition, the FLSB will receive new and expanded authority to enforce the legislation, including:
At the discretion of the FLSB, any person purchasing farmland must complete a statutory declaration;
Placing the onus to prove compliance with the legislation onto the person purchasing the land;
Increasing fines for being in contravention of the legislation from $10,000 to $50,000 for individuals and from $100,000 to $500,000 for corporations; and
Authorizing the FLSB to impose administrative penalties to a maximum of $10,000.
“Our government understands that to many in the province, farmland is not just an asset,” Stewart said. “It is a connection to our history and who we are as people. Farmers and ranchers want the opportunity to own the land they farm.”

Through the consultations, the views of more than 3,200 individuals, businesses and organizations were heard. Overwhelmingly, the majority voiced support for making pensions and large investment trusts ineligible to purchase farmland, and limiting the ownership of farmland to Canadian residents and 100 per cent Canadian-owned corporations.

The complete results of the consultation are available at www.saskatchewan.ca/farmland.

Following passage of the legislation and regulations, the new rules are expected to come into effect by the new year.

-30-

For more information, contact:

Sarah Hein
Agriculture
Regina
Phone: 306-787-5389
Email: sarah.hein@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-527-9102

[biglentil]

I think our forefathers that left the serfdom of the old country would be very happy with the tighter legislation. We have the right to own farmland because of their bold and courageous act to come to the harsh prairies of Canada.

[ajl]

Probably too little too late but nice try. I have a better solution: sell all land too foreign investors immediately at the highest possible price. Then the bank of Canada stops suppressing interest rates and allows them to rise. Land values plummet to 40% of current values. Say thank for your money investors. Problem solved. Really the whole mess is due to non market rates of interest. Speculators from around the world want to play what is the stupid central bankers doing today. Sound money with free and floating interest rates and problem solved.

[biglentil]

Then the bank would become the landlord of vast tracts of land.

[tstep]

Govt is doing the right thing. What is the step to get rid of the foreign investors that we have now. Hopefully that will not end up rolling to another foreigner

[farmaholic]

If they're actively farming it let them farm it, if they're renting it out...don't ever rent it . They'll figure it out.

[newguy]

Seems to me there has been more young families farming in our community than there has been in 30 years.What has changed is they are able to rent big acres and apply new technology on their farm.They are even reinvesting and using profits to buy the land.It would be great to turn back the clock and take advantage of the missed opportunities of the past but that will be always fiction.

[farmaholic]

My goodness, when I look back at all the farm kids who never stayed home to farm, for reasons like: they never had it in them, parents discouraged them, couldn't get land to expand the operation, parents themselves were on the brink, farming economics NEVER made sense for a long time...

Add your own reasons to the list.

[sumdumguy]

Government has fudged inflation numbers for about 10 years now, but they can't hide the fact that real estate prices have ballooned into dangerous territory - due to the artificially low interest rates. If they would have let them float without QE, what do you think would have happened? I think there would have been short-term pain in 2008, but then markets would have settled down to reasonable levels. Now we have a housing market set for implosion.

[hedgehog]

If only scotland had the laws that you propose in sask

[mustardman]

THE gov't Never Addressed Individual Absentee Owners. There are some Out- of- Province land owners who own Hundreds of quarters of land and DO not live here.

Institutional investors were addressed but not Individual owners. Either Limit land size or at least you have to be a Resident of the province