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PIPELINE LANDOWNER INFORMATION
MEETING!!! - JANUARY 11, 2007 AT 10 AM AT THE ILDERTON COMMUNITY
CENTRE, ILDERTON, ONTARIO.
View Meeting Notice.
Thank you to
everyone who has visited the site. If you have any questions, or
would like further information, please fill out our
contact information form or email
CAPLA's president, Dave Core, directly at
e-capla@hotmail.com.
Click here to see CAPLA's advertisment in The Western Producer. |
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Did you
know... |
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That
the NEB Act requires you to obtain permission from the
pipeline company to drive your equipment over the pipeline?
That pipeline landowners
were not consulted before the NEB Act and regulations were
changed to create land use restrictions on farmland?
That most landowners are
not protected by indemnity clauses in right-of-way agreements and
may be on the hook for damage caused to and by the pipeline?
That you could be fined
up to $1 million and imprisoned for up to 5 years for breaching
provisions of the NEB Act and regulations?
That pipeline companies
and federal and provincial regulators don't have your interests at
heart? |
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Class
Action - Dismissed by Justice Ellen Macdonald - Under Appeal |
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"Madam
Justice Ellen Macdonald of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice
heard arguments from counsel for CAPLA, Enbridge and TransCanada
on January 12 and 13, 2006, and on February 13 and 14, 2006 in
Toronto, Ontario. With Reasons for Judgment dated November 20,
2006, Justice Macdonald allowed the Defendants' motion for
summary judgment, dismissed the action and dismissed the
Plaintiffs' motion for certification.
The Plaintiffs' preliminary
motion dealt with certification of the class action with respect
to land use restrictions imposed by the NEB Act and regulations
(class actions must be certified as such by the Court). The
court also considered a motion by Enbridge and TransCanada to
have the action dismissed. Justice Macdonald agreed with the
Defendants, including that: - the NEB Act is a complete code and
compensation payable pursuant to section 75 of the Act cannot be
pursued in Court; - the Plaintiffs in this case were barred from
pursuing their claim for section 75 compensation by an earlier
decision of the Minister of Natural Resources (Ralph Goodale, as
he then was) in which he refused to appoint a Board of
Arbitration to hear the claim under the NEB Act; - the landowner
compensation provisions in TransCanada and Enbridge easement
agreements with the Plaintiff landowners did not provide for
compensation for damages related to the control zone; - any
covenants made by TransCanada and Enbridge to confine their
operations to the pipeline easement or not to interfere with
normal cultivation or drainage were made impossible (frustrated)
by the imposition of NEB Act restrictions, so that TransCanada
and Enbridge were excused from those duties.
CAPLA has filed appeals of
Justice MacDonald's decisions in the Court of Appeal (dismissal
of action) and the Divisional Court (dismissal of certification
motion). For further information on the class action and CAPLA's
appeals, please click on the CONTACT CAPLA button." |
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CAPLA is Fighting for
Landowner Rights |
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The Canadian Alliance of Pipeline
Landowners Associations (CAPLA) was formed in 2000 to raise
awareness among pipeline landowners of issues that are common to
all pipelines such as:
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Pipeline Safety |
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Environmental Protection |
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Pipeline Construction practices |
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Compensation for land rights |
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Civil and Criminal Liability of
Landowners |
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Abandonment of pipeline
facilities |
We’re farmers like you that have to
deal with all of these issues because pipeline companies, with the
support of government, have built pipelines through our farms.
Pipeline landowners need a strong voice to represent landowner
interests to pipeline companies and regulators such as the NEB,
and that’s why we formed CAPLA and why we’d like to hear from you.
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Control Zone Class Action |
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CAPLA and two member farmers from
Southwestern Ontario are battling with multinational pipeline
giants TransCanada Pipelines and Enbridge Pipelines over
certification of a $500,000,000 class action lawsuit.
CAPLA, and members Dave Core, a
turkey farmer, and Ron Kerr, a cash crop farmer, both from Lambton
County in Southwestern Ontario, have sued the pipeline companies
over restrictions on agricultural operations imposed by the
National Energy Board on lands affected by federally regulated
pipelines owned by TransCanada and Enbridge.
These restrictions, the farmers say,
force them to incur added costs in their operations by complying
with or avoiding the restrictions, or to incur regulatory risk by
ignoring the restrictions. Landowners face fines of up to $1
million or imprisonment of up to 5 years for contravention of the
NEB regulations.
CAPLA, Dave Core and Ron Kerr hope
that their action will end this injustice and alert pipeline
landowners everywhere to the threat the restrictions pose to their
operations.
To find out more, please contact us
by clicking on the Contact CAPLA button above. |
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