TORONTO – An opposition MP is adding his voice to calls for the federal government to reconsider the expropriation of elderly Ontario farmer Frank Meyers’ land.
Meyers signed an agreement at the end of November to give up his land after the Canadian government expropriated more than 200 acres to expand the CFB Trenton military base, but said he was persuaded to sign the agreement under duress.
NDP Ottawa-Centre MP Paul Dewar posted the following letter to his Facebook page Monday, hoping the Department of National Defence (DND) will take a second look at the case:
Dewar said he heard Meyers’ story in a local radio interview, and felt compelled to act.
“Were they allowed to do it? Yes. Was it the right thing to do? No.”
The “Save Frank & Marjorie Meyers Farm” Facebook group has grown to more than 47,000 likes, and Dewar said his letter (posted to Facebook) had more than 70,000 hits in less than 24 hours. The online group in support of Meyers is run by activist Lisa Gibson, who also shared Dewar’s letter on Monday afternoon.
“We also started to receive requests from people to say, ‘Look, you’re an opposition MP in the region, there are no other opposition MPs who’ve been speaking out and can you please do so?’” said Dewar, on why he wrote the letter. “I felt the least I could do was engage with the ministry.”
A request to Nicholson’s office for response to Dewar’s letter was met with a departmental statement:
“The Government of Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces have approached this expropriation with great sensitivitiy (sic). We have remained respectful of Mr. Meyers and mindful of his circumstances throughout this process. While the land was officially expropriated in May of 2012, the Government of Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces have been flexible with Mr. Meyers, allowing him to continue harvesting his crops for two seasons, and arranging a flexible timeline for Mr. Meyers to relocate his equipment and belongings. Physical possession by 8 Wing CFB Trenton is occuring (sic) gradually and respectfully, and Mr. Meyers will continue to live in his home, which has been excluded from this expropriation.”
A DND spokesperson previously told Global News that details of the deal are confidential.
Municipal lawyer Stephen D’Agostino said the only way to overturn the expropriation would be for Public Works Minister Diane Finley to step in, but that he’s never seen an expropriation overturned once papers have been filed.
FACT FILE: Expropriation rights in Canada
Dewar said he addressed his letter to Nicholson because Finley would defer to him, since Public Works acted on the “recommendations and needs of the Department of National Defence.”
“I hope that minister Nicholson does take a look at it at least to see if there’s anything else to be done,” said Dewar. “I hear the government often talk about the need to protect farmers, the need to protect our history… and here we have a great example of a piece of history that I think the government should be paying more attention to.”
Despite Meyers’ wish to keep his farm land, there have been recent reports that his family wants protesters to leave the property.
A “close friend” of the Meyers family told the Belleville Intelligencer that family members who tried to post on the “Save Frank & Marjorie Meyers Farm” Facebook wall had their comments removed, and that they could be giving the 85-year-old farmer “false hope” in thinking the government’s decision can be reversed.
Calls to Meyers and Gibson were not immediately returned.
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