BY ELIZ ABETH BRUBAKER
The Best of Pipeline Observer
Replacing Expropriation with Voluntary Exchange
This story originally appeared in the inaugural 2015 issue of Pipeline Observer
36
W
hat is the biggest economic and environmental problem that needs to be solved in Canada? For me, that’s an easy question. Our biggest problem is that we don’t have strong and secure property rights in this country. In many cases, resource users don’t have clearly defined, exclusive, perpetual, transferable, enforceable rights. Property rights internalize the costs and benefits of resource use — they ensure that people experience the consequences of their actions. As a result, they create incentives for sustainable use. Property rights also provide tools to protect resources from outside threats. They give people the legal right to say “no” to developments that harm them, their land or their water.
PIPEL INE OBSERV ER CAEPL A .ORG
DW-CAEPLA-WINTER-2021_34-44.indd 36
2021-02-10 11:55 AM
iStock/ shotbydave
A process truly compatible with the free market would replace regulatory hearings with a property rights approach
