When big oil wants the family farm
Saskatchewan is pushing an Oklahoma man to sell his land, which sits atop an oil field. He says he's not selling
theglobeandmail.com
PAUL WALDIE
From Monday's Globe and Mail
August 4, 2008 at 4:22 AM EDT
When Dale Kreimeyer retired from teaching four years ago, he planned to spend his retirement fishing, travelling and pursuing hobbies around his home near Oklahoma City.
Instead, Mr. Kreimeyer has spent much of his time battling the government of Saskatchewan, which is pushing him to sell a 640-acre farm near Midale, Sask., that
has been in his family for 99 years.
The government is invoking provisions in a 34-year-old law, known as the Saskatchewan Farm Security Act, which limits non-Canadians from owning more than 10 acres of farm land.
Photo of the Saskatchewan farm that was owned by Myrtle Berndt. When she passed away, she left the farm to her son, Dale Kreimeyer, who resides in Bethany, Okla.
Photo of the Saskatchewan farm that was owned by Myrtle Berndt. When she passed away, she left the farm to her son, Dale Kreimeyer, who resides in Bethany, Okla.
Mr. Kreimeyer, 55, is refusing to sell.
He can't afford a lawyer, so he has fired off letters far and wide, including one to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, saying the Saskatchewan government is being unfair.
"This has been a real battle," Mr. Kreimeyer said from his home in Bethany, Okla.
"I've been a thorn in their side for quite some time. They thought I'd just drop by the wayside."
Pressure from the government may be intensifying, he said, because his land is located on the sprawling Bakken oil field.
The oil formation stretches into North Dakota and is considered one of the largest oil deposits in North America.
Oil companies are already drilling in areas around the farm and Mr. Kreimeyer had a call from Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. asking if it could set up a base camp on the land.
The land isn't worth much, Mr. Kreimeyer said, but revenue from any oil operations could be substantial.
Scott Brown, a spokesman for Saskatchewan's agriculture ministry, said he couldn't comment on a specific case.
Mr. Brown noted that the recently-elected government of Brad Wall has appointed new members to the Farm Land Security Board, a provincial tribunal that can grant exemptions to the ownership law.
The members will meet for the first time on Aug. 20 to review all of the board's cases, including Mr. Kreimeyer's.
"They are in fact having another look at this particular case," Mr. Brown said.
The saga began in 2000, a couple of years after the death of Mr. Kreimeyer's mother, Myrtle. She had been born on the farm, which her father acquired in 1909. During the Second World War, Ms. Kreimeyer volunteered as a nurse and ended up helping out at a military base in Texas.
She married a U.S. soldier, Harold, and they eventually settled in Oklahoma. But Ms. Kreimeyer kept the Saskatchewan farm and rented it out to farmers who grew wheat and barley.
Mr. Kreimeyer has been involved with the farm extensively over the years and he hoped to pass it on to his two sons one day.
He knew nothing about the ownership restriction until the farmer who was renting the land notified the province that Ms. Kreimeyer had died.
"I think he wanted to buy it and he knew I would be forced to sell," Mr. Kreimeyer said, adding that he soon found a new tenant.
Mr. Kreimeyer won a couple of reprieves from the Farm Land Security Board, but last February the board declined to grant any more delays and it ordered Mr. Kreimeyer to comply with the Act and sell all but 10 acres by November 1.
"I got very upset with them," Mr. Kreimeyer recalled.
He pushed for an exemption and the board agreed a few months ago to hear his request. He just found out last Friday that the board members had been replaced in June and that the new board will be examining his case on Aug. 20.
Mr. Kreimeyer is hopeful the review may result in an exemption. But if it doesn't, he won't stop fighting to keep his farm.
"I think they respect me," he said referring to the government officials. "But they don't understand why I just don't give in and sell." |
