The House of Commons has defeated a proposal from a veteran Saskatchewan Conservative MP to enshrine property rights in the Canadian constitution.
It’s the fifth time in his 14 years as an MP that Garry Breitkreuz of Yorkton, Sask., has proposed a similar motion. On Dec. 4, he argued that constitutional protection for the right to own property is a fundamental requirement for personal freedom.
“Canada is the only modern industrialized country that does not protect property rights adequately,” he told the Commons.
In a 138-118 vote the next day, only Conservative MPs and one independent supported the proposition.
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However, more than 40 opposition MPs were not in the House to vote, including prominent rural MPs who have suggested in the past they support the principle.
Opposition MPs who spoke in the debate said enshrining constitutional property rights is not the freedom panacea Breitkreuz thinks.
Many provinces oppose it and there would be many “unintended consequences,” said Prince Edward Island Liberal Shawn Murphy.
“Municipal zoning, aboriginal rights of property, provincial land use property, environmental protection legislation and property rights of spouses upon dissolution of marriage are all property rights.”
Breitkreuz linked the debate to several rural and agricultural issues including gun control and compulsory farm marketing boards.
