The Vagueness of Private Property in Canada

I moved into a cookie cutter home in a new suburb development in west Edmonton two years ago. The home purchase, my first has raised some interesting questions about who really owns the land which I am paying for.

As soon as the neighborhood was city to start moving into the city came around and coercively planted a tree on everyone’s property without seeking permission. The tree forced my neighbor to re-rout his driveway foundation to include the “city” tree. He vehemently fought against the forced planting as he had already planted a tree for aesthetics. The city refused his protest and threatened force (a fine). My neighbor relented and accepted the “city” owned tree.

Two out of every three houses in the entire neighborhood have these “city” trees planted on their front lawns now. Last summer all of the trees started to die—wrong climate for this particular tree. The city spent last summer and this summer aggressively watering the trees. The city paid private contractors to water the “city” trees, which nobody wanted, planted on their private property in the first place, twice a week, with more taxpayer money.

Three weeks ago the city gave up and marked all of the dying trees for removal.

Never mind the obvious and predictable bureaucratic failure to socially engineer a neighborhood’s aesthetics (like people in new neighborhoods have no incentive to decorate their own yards). I want to compare this fact with another property fact that has been raised this summer.

Last week I decided to build a two foot high 10 x 12 foot deck in back yard. I was informed I would need a permit or the deck would be illegal. The permit costs $170.

So in light of these facts I want to summarize Canada’s practical stance on Private property.

1. I purchased the land with a contract. I supposedly own the property.
2. The city plants an arbitrarily chosen tree on my property without ever seeking my permission. In fact the tree was forced on to me. I, like my neighbor, had already chosen which tree I wanted to plant in my front yard. The issue was not up for debate. The city had already mandated where and which trees would be planted.
3. Next when I wanted to build a small deck on my property (a necessity with a raised rear door). I was told I would need the city’s permission or the deck would be illegal and I would be fined.

So why do I need the city’s permission to build a deck on my property when they don’t need my permission to arbitrarily plant trees on my property? Who really owns the property? The logical implication is that the city owns the land and I just use or rent the land.