EDMONTON—The Alberta government will make it illegal to sue people who use violence to protect their property, as long as the property owner does not commit a criminal act in the process.

The amendments to the Occupiers’ Liability Act will be retroactive, starting Jan. 1, 2018, and could effectively end a lawsuit against an Okotoks man who shot an intruder on his farm last year.

Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer announced the move on a ranch in Wetaskiwin on Wednesday as part of a string of announcements he said will deter rural crime.

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“These measures will ensure that a criminal trespasser has no right of civil action against a law-abiding property owner who is defending their property against trespassers who are, or who they believe to be, in the process of committing a criminal act,” Schweitzer said.

“The one caveat would be that if the homeowner commits a criminal act themselves then that wouldn’t apply — the person could potentially pursue a civil action. It raises the bar to be able to pursue a civil action against the property owner.”

Schweitzer and Premier Jason Kenney have recently spoken out in support of Edouard Maurice, who fired a warning shot to scare a man off his Okotoks farm on Feb. 24, 2018, that hit Ryan Watson in the arm.

According to police, Maurice said he saw two men rummaging through his vehicle and one of those men was identified as Watson.

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In February 2018, RCMP charged both men.

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Maurice was initially charged with pointing a firearm, careless use of a firearm and aggravated assault, but Crown prosecutors withdrew the charges against him in June 2018.

Watson pleaded guilty in February 2019 to one count of mischief and a charge of failing to abide by conditions of his probation, but the other charges against him — including trespassing by night, theft under $5,000 from motor vehicle and possession of methamphetamine — were withdrawn.

A year later, Watson filed a civil lawsuit against Maurice seeking $100,000 in damages.

Kenney donated $100 to a fundraising campaign for Maurice’s civil defence fund in September, calling it an act of “compassion,” and encouraged others in a Facebook post to do the same.

Schweitzer said during Wednesday’s announcement that the Maurice case factored into the government’s changes.

“Every rural Albertan can relate to Eddie Maurice — are they the next Eddie Maurice? Is it their loved one, is it their child?” he said.

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“They can relate to it; they understand it.”

Asked for clarification later, Schweitzer’s press secretary Jonah Mozeson said the Jan. 1, 2018 date was set because of the statute of limitations, not because of the Maurice incident.

When asked whether the change would end Watson’s lawsuit against Maurice, Mozeson said he would “leave that to the courts to decide.”

Schweitzer announced several other changes Wednesday, including new responsibilities for sheriffs and fish and wildlife officers — in some cases giving them the power to respond to 911 calls — under a new Rapid Alberta Provincial Integrated Defence Force strategy.

Schweitzer said the move will allow 400 peace officers in Fish and Wildlife, Commercial Vehicle enforcement and the traffic arm of the Alberta Sheriffs to assist RCMP and other police services in some emergencies across rural Alberta, starting in fall 2020.

Opposition NDP justice critic and former justice minister Kathleen Ganley said the government should be investing in more police instead of assigning more responsibilities to peace officers.

Under Ganley, the previous NDP government’s $10-million rural crime strategy included hiring more police and prosecutors. The 2018-19 justice department’s annual report led to reductions in car thefts, break-and-enters and overall rural property crime.

“I think the biggest concern is that we’re not seeing additional boots on the ground,” Ganley said Wednesday.

The government also announced legislation Wednesday that would increase the maximum fines for trespassing offences by five times, to $10,000 for a first violation and $25,000 for subsequent offences.

Corporations that “help or direct” trespassers could face fines up to $200,000, in a move Schweitzer said is a first in Canada.

He said the changes will protect farmers from “animal rights radicals,” referring to a Labour Day incident when activists went to the Jumbo Valley Hutterite turkey farm to protest what they described as overcrowding and poor conditions at the facility.

A proposed change to the Animal Health Act would also create new offences and penalties for anyone who enters an agricultural operation without explicit authorization or encourages others to do so.

The government also plans to introduce “community impact statements” to allow people not directly affected by crimes to take part in the sentencing of offenders.

This would allow residents to submit statements describing how a crime has affected their community as a whole, including “fears they have for their own security.” Traditionally, only victim impact statements are heard in court.

A new Restitution Recoveries Program, meanwhile, will help crime victims collect outstanding payments on restitution orders by allowing the government to garnish wages or seize and sell property from offenders.

The changes come after Schweitzer’s series of town halls on rural crime in more than 20 rural Alberta communities, where some residents have claimed crime rates are spiralling out of control.

Statistics Canada numbers show rural crime rates have been dropping overall for the last decade, but Schweitzer said that’s just because people have simply stopped calling the police out of frustration. He said the stats are “flat-out wrong.”

“One thing we’ve heard loud and clear is that our laws are written for downtown Toronto. They’re not written for rural Alberta,” he said.

Schweitzer said Wednesday’s announcement is the beginning in a series of changes to combat rural crime.

With files from Claire Theobald