JohnF

As long as your lawyer knows the difference. JF

Hopefully yer lawyer meant he did the search at the local Registry office. JF

http://www.fsco.gov.on.ca/english/pubs/consumerbrochures/undstitins.pdf Here's some bedtime reading for you. As I've already said I'm inclined to think the insurance won't help here but I'll try to track down a lawyer friend of mine who used to work for one of the Title Ins companies. He'll probably have a better idea than any of us. JF

You've been reading your workbook again. But this isn't the right time for going down that particular road, at least not yet. There are much better issues to address first. Besides if the neighbour's house has been there long enough it may predate the creation of the local zoning bylaw and be viewed by the municipality as a legal non-conforming use, but as I said this is a minor detail in the big picture. JF

Adverse possession (squatter's rights) may not apply if the property is registered under Land Titles but that is just a general rule and those kind are always open to interpretation as any good lawyer will tell you. I suspect this is a long time encroachment and that could affect a legal ruling here. The lawyer/columnist your taling about is probably Bob Aaron. I'll tell you about him in my PM Cliff. JF

I agree. JF

Actually I doubt there is insurance coverage because the encroachment is the neighbour's buildings on your property. There would be insurance if it was the other way around. But I would want to get an opinion from a good real estate lawyer. Hope I'm wrong or there are other facts that apply here. JF

The first thing to do is find out if the property is registered under Land Titles or Registry System. Hopefully and probably it's Land Titles. This would perhaps be good. The next thing is to reconsider hiring a local lawyer. Sometimes local lawyers don't like to tackle old time locals, particularly while representing a newcomer, in nasty issues like this. Didn't they use a local lawyer to buy it? Other than that I have to give this some thought. A lot of things come to mind such as did the sellers know this and not disclose it? Was there an SPIS provided? Was the deal done thru a real estate brokerage? Did they buy Title Insurance as there's a possibility of some help there but I'm not certain. Perhaps best if I PM you later. I'm right in the middle of teaching a class out of town right now and just got home an hour ago with lots of prep to work on. Okay if I answer you tomorrow or is there some time issue? JF J

Our brothers south of the border found a solution but I'm not sure tea parties are quite as effective as they once were. And I'm not talking about the new bunch of simpletons who paid the Alaskan beauty queen a great load of speaker fee for addressing their fundraiser gathering. If that's any measure of their judgment in choosing party icons they're dead in the water already. JF

I'm with you. I've pretty much lost what little faith I ever had in politicians of any stripe. Once they get fed into the political machine they apparently lose pretty much whatever ethics and free will they may have possessed before. Unfortunately there's been so much damage done that even if a good politician (has that become an oxymoron now?) did join the fray he'd have no credibility - guilt by association. I once suggested to some friends with experience that I was interested in getting into simple municipal politics. Their response was a resounding "ARE YOU FREAKIN'NUTS?". They filled me in on the joys of even that level of politics (it seems those guys are just in training for the big leagues but not as crafty as the big timers). At the risk of sounding alarmist politics at pretty much all levels seems to have sunk to the level of the lowest common denominator, and there are some pretty low denominators in the game. Dunno what the solution is though. A lot of folks seem to have come to the conclusion that it's easier to just bend over and let 'em have their way. It's gonna happen whether you fight or not. Sad that we've come to that but it's a very big snowball rolling down a very steep hill. What's gonna stop it now? JF

Is it perhaps wired for dual filament bulbs? That could work, I think. JF

Have you tried a great big net? JF

What he didn't mention was that he caught zero fish all those years he toted the bananas on board. JF

I'm not sure if they still allow fishing in the quarries, but if you can, the one on the west side of the road is probably the best bet. There's a nice flatrock spot on the river side to cast from. But if you want to wade head a few blocks farther into town and watch for the bridge going west across the river, then turn left on Thomas St and head south to the edge of town, anywhere from the big conveyor bridge and out from there. There are lots of pools in there and it's easy wading. If you want carp or suckers there are lots. Smallmouths are there but of course not in season. There are pike along there as well and rumour has it there are walleye in there now too but I can't find 'em. JF

Hmmm. That might explain my lousy luck last summer. Is it even possible to go an entire summer without noticing a banana hidden somewhere on yer person, and does the bad luck still happen if there's no boat involved? JF

I won't pretend to understand all the factors at play here, but that reads like a pretty solid presentation to me. JF

I don't know the answer to this. That's why I'm asking. And if anyone thinks this is a great idea and wants to market it, be my guest. Does anyone make a two part kit of heat shrink flat material. I envision two flat pieces or or one piece folded over to cover both sides of the connection or whatever. Then a heat source is used to make the two pieces bond together and shrink to a snug fit. JF

Have you caught yer first pike yet? JF

Rob has a couple of raised bed veggy gardens that he keeps. We just turn up a few spadefuls or even use a garden hand trowel and we get all we want. The soil is well composted and loose. He mostly uses them for his aquarium fish but we also take a few when we hit the creek. JF

Boyz??? JF

Some of us do it so well, though. JF

My buddy caught a few small very light coloured walleyes out at Lemonade Springs a few years back (if you know where that is) and I was talking to a St.Marys native a couple of weeks ago who swears they caught a few just at the south end of St.Marys this year. So far I've only got the stories, no proof. It makes sense that they'd be coming up river though if they've got into Fanshawe. And it makes sense that the 'bows are finding their way down the Avon from Stratford after each kid's derby. I believe the guy who says he caught a rainbow this year, even without his picture. The fact that I can't catch them means nothing. I have trouble catching bass trapped in a pool. JF

The process to get from talk to legislation is long and convoluted and little gets thru it as originally proposed. That link I posted is the law as it stands. Not saying it can't happen but it will be a while if it does. JF

Info I rec'd this morning from a lawyer friend. http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/debs-obs-menu-1362.htm JF

Sorry we missed you. We were just down by the conveyor belt till noon, then moved up north of town after lunch. You're talking about the suckers with the long pointy dorsal fin? We noticed those as well. Lots of them. We had hoped to get into some walleyes, or at least pike, down there but no luck. I saw a couple of pike in the water but they weren't ambitious about food. I dropped a tasty offering literally right on one's nose and he just shook it off. He didn't swim away until I until I walked up to within about 5' of him. He was just a hammerhandle and seemed pretty lethargic. I've never seen so many redhorse all hanging out. Must be a spawning thang. When I was a kid they'd school up really tight on the surface and we'd jump in the river and wade right into them. They didn't even seem to notice us. Lots of young carp on the limestone below the bridge at the dam, too. Also saw more young (small) smallmouths than I've seen other years. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come (in numbers, not size). JF