Paul Warchuk: Property rights are 'precarious' in Canada
Inside Policy Talks4 Dec 2025

Paul Warchuk: Property rights are 'precarious' in Canada

Across Canada, some of the most heated disputes – from housing restrictions to Indigenous land claims – turn on this question: how secure are Canadians’ property rights?

The answer may surprise you. Canada is one of the only developed democracies where property rights have no constitutional protection. That gap has real consequences. It can lead to family farms shuttered by regulation, homeowners caught in civil forfeiture, or even recent court decisions like Cowichan Tribes v. Canada which upended long-held assumptions about ownership itself.

To unpack these issues, University of New Brunswick law professor Paul Warchuk joins Inside Policy Talks. Warchuk is the author of a powerful new MLI paper on property rights in Canada, titled Beyond patchwork protection: Towards comprehensive property rights in Canadian law. In it, he traces the philosophical and legal evolution of property from early philosophers up to the Charter era. He argues that property is not only a private entitlement but a public trust that safeguards liberty and prosperity alike.

On the podcast, Warchuk tells Peter Copeland, deputy director of domestic policy at MLI, that “there is a lot of resistance to property rights,” perhaps stemming from the fact that not all Canadians believe these rights serve and protect them.

He added that while most Canadians feel their property rights are secure, the situation is “precarious” because despite some basic protections “it's very easy for government to override them.”

“If you find yourself in the circumstance of one of the unlucky few that is affected in this way,” says Warchuk, “your perspective would change completely, and you'd feel a little bit more of the injustice.”

Avsnitt(124)

Indigenous students thrive earning degrees in their communities: Ken Coates & Sheila North

Indigenous students thrive earning degrees in their communities: Ken Coates & Sheila North

Welcome to Inside Policy Talks, where we dive into the ideas and policies shaping Canada's future! In this episode, Ken Coates, director of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute's Indigenous Affairs Program...

9 Maj 202536min

How provincial trade barriers rip off Canadians: Peter Copeland & Ryan Manucha

How provincial trade barriers rip off Canadians: Peter Copeland & Ryan Manucha

Welcome to Inside Policy Talks, where we dive into the ideas and policies shaping Canada's future!In this episode, Peter Copeland, Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Program at the Macdonald Lauri...

29 Apr 202551min

Can Europe guarantee its own security? Balkan Devlen and Peter Hefele

Can Europe guarantee its own security? Balkan Devlen and Peter Hefele

Welcome to Inside Policy Talks, where we dive into the ideas and policies shaping Canada's future!In this episode, Balkan Devlen, Studio Fellow at the Macdonald Laurier Institute, sits down with Peter...

17 Apr 202541min

Can the CBC survive without government subsidies? Peter Copeland and Peter Menzies

Can the CBC survive without government subsidies? Peter Copeland and Peter Menzies

Welcome to Inside Policy Talks, where we dive into the ideas and policies shaping Canada's future!In this episode, Peter Copeland, Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Program at the Macdonald-Lauri...

15 Apr 202557min

Tackling Canada's housing crunch: Peter Copeland and Ross McKitrick

Tackling Canada's housing crunch: Peter Copeland and Ross McKitrick

Welcome to Inside Policy Talks, where we dive into the ideas and policies shaping Canada's future!In this episode, Peter Copeland, Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Program at the Macdonald-Lauri...

8 Apr 202544min

How are First Nations' fish farms transforming the West Coast?: Ken Coates and Dallas Smith

How are First Nations' fish farms transforming the West Coast?: Ken Coates and Dallas Smith

Welcome to Inside Policy Talks, where we dive into the ideas and policies shaping Canada's future!In this compelling episode, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute's Director of Indigenous Affairs, Ken Coat...

21 Mars 202533min

More regulations, fewer families—explaining North America's housing crisis: Peter Copeland and Tim Carney

More regulations, fewer families—explaining North America's housing crisis: Peter Copeland and Tim Carney

Welcome to Inside Policy Talks, where we dive into the ideas and policies shaping Canada today!In this episode, Peter Copeland, Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Program at the Macdonald Laurier ...

12 Mars 202541min

Does salmon farming have a future in Canada?: Ken Coates and Linda Sams

Does salmon farming have a future in Canada?: Ken Coates and Linda Sams

Welcome to Inside Policy Talks, where we dive into the ideas and policies shaping Canada's future!In this episode, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute's Ken Coates sits down with Linda Sams, biologist wit...

4 Mars 202532min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

aftonbladet-krim
svenska-fall
p3-krim
rss-krimstad
flashback-forever
aftonbladet-daily
politiken
rss-krimreportrarna
spar
rss-vad-fan-hande
rss-sanning-konsekvens
motiv
blenda-2
rss-flodet
rss-frandfors-horna
dagens-eko
svd-ledarredaktionen
grans
olyckan-inifran
rss-aftonbladet-krim