Leamington, Ont., man says he'll handcuff himself to his deck to save it from being taken down by town
CBC
Mike McQeen flashes a set of handcuffs and demonstrates how he will handcuff himself to a pole on his deck near the Leamington, Ont., waterfront promenade, if the municipality tries to take the deck down.
"The town pretty much is claiming that this is their land," said McQueen. "I'm claiming it's my lands. I've been taking care of this property for 24 years and now they're threatening to rip my deck apart and take my flag pole down and it's not gonna happen."
McQueen and two other landowners claim the municipality is reneging on a promise to return unused land given up as part of a deal in the 90s to help the town build a promenade along the waterfront.
According to documents submitted by developer Joe Mikhail, one of the property owners in dispute with the town, it shows the landowners had an agreement with the town in the 90s that their backyards, which abut the promenade, would be returned to them once the project to build the promenade was complete.
"Thirteen of them two years ago were granted their lands back. Five weren't and we don't know why," said Mikhail.
The town insists the land never belonged to the landowners in question in the first place.
A Municipality of Leamington spokesperson sent the following statement from the town's legal department:
"There are certain lands which were owned by and under the jurisdiction of the federal government prior to the construction of the municipal promenade," the statement said. "It appears as though some abutting property owners may be under the impression that they, at some point in time, were the owners of those lands; however, the federal government did not agree. The federal government ultimately transferred ownership and jurisdiction over these lands to the Province whom then sold the lands to the Municipality in 2012."
On July 10, McQueen said he received a letter from a lawyer hired by the town warning that if the deck was not removed by July 17 the town would do it for him.
So far that has not happened and McQueen is contemplating legal action.
Mikhail is already taking the town to court.
This First Person column is the experience of Shannon Flaman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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