A law-abiding, tax-paying Canadian homeowner writes:
So, I spoke with a lawyer and turns out that indeed government bureaucrats are allowed to enter a house (even without owners present, as long as someone opens the door) & take pictures as they please! If they show up & no one opens the door, they are allowed to return with police who can forcefully open the door to let them in. No heads up required!
I no longer see any reason to hold on to my Canadian passport. Maybe I will have to spend the rest of my life emigrating, but it’s all good as long as I emigrate away from what’s described in the quote.
Clarissa's Blog 
Intrusiveness is pretty sad. Landlords are allowed to invade the homes of renters in Aus.
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“Landlords are allowed to invade the homes of renters in Aus.”
– In the US, even landlords have to issue an official warning 2 weeks in advance about their plans to enter the rented property. And here we aren’t even discussing a landlord/renter relationship. This is owner / complete stranger relationship.
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Yeah, I know. It sounds pretty bad. In any case, invasions are always bad.
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I don’t like how the other first world countries like to trash on America and act superior, and then go and let something like happen.
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Now imagine if the bureaucrat knocks at the door and you don’t answer because you are having sex and don’t want to interrupt the act. So the bureaucrat brings the police, they kick down the door, barge in, and discover you in the midst of the sex act.
And that is legal???
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So does Canada not have search warrant laws? I’m so astounded by this!
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We have a very intense reaction to this because of our multi generational experience of totalitarianism.
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Is this only in Quebec, possibly because their legal system is not based upon the British common law system?
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That’s a good question. I don’t know. Maybe other Canadians can clarify?
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Canada freaks me out. But our neighbors from the south made me psychologically sick for a decade. I keep my passpost:)
Why such a law exists? Did you sister ask?
Also, it may be easier to track the bureaucrat than you think, and ask questions/complain. Construction permits vary from one neighbourhood to another, so it is not Canada, Quebec, or Montreal, but, say, TMR, Montréal-Ouest, or CDN NDG.
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Yes, there is an explanation behind the law: if people tear down walls during a renovation, the house might collapse and hurt the neighbors. Of course, there is also a possibility that my sister will play with matches and burn down the neighborhood. I don’t know how this eventuality is prevented. Or maybe she hid a nuclear bomb in the basement and it will explode.
And the lawyer says this doesn’t depend on the township; this is citywide.
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Sounds like a Quebec thing; I’m not a homeowner so I’m no expert, but there doesn’t appear to be anything like that in British Columbia.
In my mother’s American home, however, such a thing did occur, because whoever built the home originally (she bought it in the 70s mind you) crossed the property line while doing so. Because of this, the only renovations to the home she can currently make without inducing a fine are to chop off the intruding part of the house, and she can’t sell the house until she does so.
And yes, a bureaucrat did come into our home and measure this to find out for sure.
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Sorry to break the news to you, but Canada doesn’t recognise renunciations of Canadian citizenship, meaning that you’re stuck with it …
Maybe you should run for public office in the United States — that might do the trick.
It’s a lot more convenient than filling out the forms for a declaration of war. 🙂
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Or I could stop paying enormous sums fir renewing my Canadian passport. Which will signal that I have stopped playing the favorite game of all Canadians titled “Feed a state apparatchik.”
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