Alberta Property Rights advocate office opens in Lethbridge

LETHBRIDGE- It’s the only one in the province and it’s right here in southern Alberta.

The Property Rights Advocate Office is a service for Albertans wanting information or recommendation on property rights.

“It’s not right for Albertans to always have to go and hire a lawyer to sort things out,” says Premier Alison Redford. “We want to make government accessible, we want to make sure that there is support people that have the information and that their rights are protected.”

The advocate, Lee Cutforth is a Lethbridge area land owner and has worked for over 25 years as a lawyer. He won’t have authority to make any changes but will report to the minister of justice and solicitor general.

“I am looking forward to having open and transparent discussions, also having the copy of the rights advocate report filed every year in the legislation for all Albertans to see,” says Jonathan Denis, Minister of Justice and Solicitor General.

Wildrose MLA Ian Donovan says a major role in his party winning votes throughout southern Alberta was their stand on property rights.

He adds the bills surrounding property rights shouldn’t have changed in the first place.

“If we had proper land use rights, do wouldn’t need an advocate. We wouldn’t be taking away from property owners so I guess those bills are in place now so I guess as a property owner it’s good to see that we have an advocate.”

Even though the new advocate has been planted in Wildrose country, Cutforth says he has already seen a lot of interest from across the province.

“We’ve had a surprising number of inquiries relating to municipal issues which I think was a little unexpected. You know the hot button issues are the oil wells, pipelines and power lines,” says Cutforth.

And with a number of transmission lines planned for southern Alberta, it’s expected to be a busy time for the new property rights advocate.

The office opened for business in December and received over 10 complaints within the first seven days.