The Alberta's government bill to abolish adverse possession, also known as “squatter’s rights,” passed second reading on Thursday..Adverse possession allows a person who has occupied another’s land for at least 10 years to go to court and claim ownership. ."A number of jurisdictions do already have — they’ve addressed through legislation, through statute rights to basically eliminate adverse possession," said Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro during the second reading.."Unfortunately, Alberta has not followed that, and it’s a little bit, you know it seems contrary to what we kind of know about the strong sense of pride that Albertans, and particularly rural Albertans, take in their land and their property.".The Alberta government introduced the Property Rights Statutes Amendment Act on Monday, which would abolish the ability of squatters to make a claim and give private landowners the same protections once reserved for government.."If these changes pass, folks will no longer be able to go to court to claim adverse possession of land that they are on, and if someone is possessing land that they are not the registered owner of, registered owners can get a court order to get the land back at any time," said Shandro. ."Now, Mr. Speaker, make no mistake: these proposed changes Bill 3 proposes changes which will remove this threat and give private landowners the same protections that are currently in place for public land.".Before Shandro finished speaking, he gave a shout-out to a former professional land surveyor and MLA Ken Allred. ."In fact, 10 years ago, in 2012, he had a private member’s bill proposing to abolish adverse possession in this province," he said. ."Unfortunately, at that time, 10 years ago, that private member’s bill died on the Order Paper.".Shandro said the question of abolishing adverse possession has been brought before this House before, but now "we’re very happy to continue the work that was started by Mr. Ken Allred.".He said he is hoping that Bill 3 will have a different output than his private member’s bill and the legislature will support getting rid of someone’s ability to steal another person’s property.."If passed, the Property Rights Statutes Amendment Act, will send a clear message that squatting cannot lead to ownership," said Shandro.."It would allow Alberta’s landowners to use and to enjoy their property without the ongoing burden of making sure that no one is using it and the constant worry of potentially losing their land."
