At the Ontario Landowners Association (OLA) general meeting in Cobourg, Ont., researchers and property owners delivered a stark warning: Canada’s endless land acknowledgments and the Trudeau-era UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) Act are not harmless virtue signalling — they’re rewriting history to undermine private property rights across the province.

Donna Burns, vice-president of eastern Ontario and president of the Renfrew OLA chapter, laid out the evidence with government documents straight from Indian Affairs (now Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada).

These digitized treaty records map out historic surrenders across Ontario. In eastern Ontario, Treaty 27 (provisionally signed in 1819 and confirmed in 1822) saw the Mississauga Indian Nation surrender the lands, not the Algonquins, who are now pursuing a massive modern-day claim on what they call “unceded” territory.

At the time of the treaty, many Algonquins had relocated toward Montreal, and populations were reduced by conflict, disease, and nomadic movement.

The existing treaty is clear, and Section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982 requires acknowledgment of historic treaties, yet it’s all being ignored in favour of ‘unceded’ claims.

Burns emphasized: “This land was not stolen. It was surrendered through legal agreements between the Crown and First Nations. Treaties created the framework for settlement, townships, and Crown land patents that granted property to settlers and their heirs forever.”

She says that those patents still exist and protect today’s owners.

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The daily land acknowledgement recitations at schools, council meetings, and events (which are pushed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action) repeatedly frame Canada as built on “stolen land.”

Burns and fellow presenter Liz Marshall argue that this is deliberate: repetition can turn this narrative into “common law,” effectively brainwashing generations into believing their property rests on illegitimate foundations.

Ultimately, this results in a cultural shift that softens the ground for UNDRIP, which was enacted federally in 2021 under Justin Trudeau despite Stephen Harper’s refusal years prior.

Burns says that the federal UNDRIP Act undermines well-established British/Canadian institutions and implies historic theft, sidelining the treaties that currently exist. Similar dynamics are playing out elsewhere, like in British Columbia’s Cowichan ruling, aggressive land claims, and personhood declarations over lakes and rivers.

Ontario landowners fear they’re next.

Combined with recent federal pushes for the $90 billion Alto high-speed rail mega-project (a proposed Montreal-Toronto 1,000 km corridor), it raises even more red flags for property owners along the path who face expropriation.

Landowners are receiving letters demanding access for surveys, with offers up to $1,500 for multi-year entry. OLA’s clear message: Say no. No law currently forces owners to grant access.

OLA president Jeff Bogaerts warns that allowing entry and collection of data could fast-track land grabs.

Recent federal budget bills implemented major expropriation legislative changes, making it easier and faster for the government and Alto to seize property, freeze land value, and enforce “expropriation by regulation.” That is, implementing severe and restrictive land-use regulations that significantly reduce a property’s value.

The OLA has successfully challenged moves like this previously at the Supreme Court of Canada, in cases like Annapolis Group, where government regulations were classified as a “constructive taking,” entitling the property owner to appropriate compensation.

Bogaerts says that their fight is simple: enforce existing constitutional and Charter protections for property rights rather than inventing new ones.

Burns confirms that southern Ontario is largely covered by historic treaties and Crown patents, which even real estate agents and lawyers seem to overlook.

OLA urges every landowner to locate their Crown land patent and review their title search to confirm rights transferred to heirs and successors.

A final message for property owners was strength in numbers.

“If you stand alone, you're probably going to lose,” says Bogaerts, “but if you stand together, you're probably going to win. So it's up to the people to decide.

The OLA isn’t anti-Indigenous; it celebrates a shared history where settlers and First Nations built a nation through cooperation, farming, and development.

Erasing treaties while pushing guilt narratives serves no one, and history isn’t up for rewrite.

Property rights are foundational to freedom. Ontario landowners are digging into the documents, challenging the narrative, and refusing to surrender what their forefathers secured.

Those interested in joining and learning more can visit OntarioLandowners.ca.