Letters to the Editor
Historic Beach Access and Usage Rights in the Township of Tiny
This letter is not promoting trespassing, which many have been led to believe they are guilty of. Using our beaches is not trespassing. It is our right. Please respect private property and also our beaches, by taking with you all that you brought. Including cigarette butts.
Tiny’s beaches are famous the world over. Sadly, some have been attempting to keep them from us by claiming they are private.
Historic Beach Rights mean something and no one should be able to prevent us from exercising them freely. The fallacy that the beaches in Tiny are private has gone too far.
The decision by the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the highest court in the province, has been referenced in cases across the country.
Gibbs v. Grand Bend (Village), 1996 CanLII 2835 (ON CA)
“open and unobstructed use by the public for a substantial period of time is, as a rule, the evidence from which a trier of fact may infer both dedi-cation and acceptance. … Once a dedication is complete, neither the owners nor their successors-in-title could revoke it … Neither the dedicator nor his successor-in-title can resume control of or convey the land free from the public rights to its use, nor can anything be done by the present owners to take back that which had been previously given away.”
Boundaries Act applications or quit claims deeds would have occurred after historic use was already a thing. Adverse possession; the suggestion that only 60 feet at the accesses are for public use; private property signs littering our beaches and pathways; “erroneous surveys”; ugly and dangerous groynes that are ruining our beautiful and natural “dynamic shorelines”; the abuse of good people; MUST STOP.
The correct process should be followed like the Gibbs case. This is about fair trials and truth-seeking. The onus is on the claimant to prove that they own the land. And more importantly, that historic beach rights do not exist.
How hard is it for the ones who claim the beach is private, to join together and raise the funds to take this to court like Gibbs, and try to prove it once and for all? Is money the issue? Isn’t there a lawyer on board who will do it pro bono? Many have joined forces very recently to try to stop something else in Tiny, making it abundantly clear that the solidarity is there. So why hasn’t this happened?
Would it actually be that if it were able to be proven, it would have happened a long time ago?
Until the privateers put their money where their mouths are, and prove these claims fairly and truthfully, the people should know their rights and they should be left alone to enjoy their commons areas.
…Enjoy the Beaches!
Tara Jaeger-Tiny Township, Sep.24, 2024
