"It’s a rare occurrence for a private citizen to block the federal government like this," said a pleased Doug Woodburn in discussing his recent legal victory against the National Capital Commission. "I understand we’re the only farmers in Canada to have ever done it."

The former Ottawa-Carleton dairy farmer has taken the powerful federal land owner to court in a bid to reclaim the family farm expropriated more than 30 years ago as part of the new Greenbelt.

In a rare procedure, Ontario Superior Court recently allowed a certificate of pending litigation to be applied to the former Woodburn property on Innes Road, preventing the NCC from going ahead with selling part of the farm as it had planned until the complainant has been satisfied.

"The NCC has gone against its own mandate to acquire land to preserve in the Greenbelt," Woodburn said. "Our land was supposed to be farmed forever. There was no mandate to acquire land to sell for commercial development."

While Woodburn knows his struggles are far from over, he feels partly vindicated in his long battle with the federal commission which expropriated the land back in 1963.

Discussions continue. At a recent meeting with NCC chair Marcel Beaudry, Woodburn said he was told the commission can’t "sole source" the sale of the property but must offer it to the general public. That, he said, is untrue because the NCC has sold back directly to previous farm owners and tenants in the past (SEE SEPARATE STORY).

Supported by federal and provincial agricultural organizations, he says his case stands as a warning that first-right-of-refusal clauses should be built into expropriation arrangements allowing original owners or their descendants to buy back their land at fair market value should it ever be declared surplus.

The full 200-acre Woodburn farm was expropriated when the NCC set about accumulating the Greenbelt, 35,000 acres of open space ringing Ottawa-Carleton.

After leasing the farm back for 20 years and being refused a new lease in 1994, the Woodburns tried to buy it back at today’s agricultural value. However, the NCC had two parcels totaling about 22 acres rezoned to commercial and received an offer for more than $7 million. The whole place originally cost the commission about $100,000.

Woodburn said his goal is to win back the full 200 acres and farm it once again. If successful, he may build a "model farm" where city dwellers can learn about agriculture and purchase fresh products such as milk and ice cream.

He said he feels doubly cheated. After the NCC forced family members to turn over the land at the basic rate of the day, the commission leased it back to them to maintain while the price climbed, finally forced them off it, and now stands to rake in an astounding profit.

"The NCC was really anxious for us to maintain the farm all those years," Woodburn observed. "They tile-drained parts that weren’t done, they built us a new silo and a new machine shed. They spent $100,000 fixing the place up."

He said he was disappointed that no local politician has been prepared to go to bat for him against the NCC. He also feels the NCC, in order to get approval for the sale, "skillfully misrepresented" the case to its commissioners by telling them the 22 acres were vacant and unused when they were in fact part of a Class A dairy farm complete with three houses, three silos, three grain storage bins, a 64-head barn and a storage shed with feed mixing facilities.

"The only reason this land was vacant was because the NCC wanted it that way so it could be sold for development and generate some revenue."

Woodburn’s lawyer Russ Kronick said his case is simple: The NCC has declared the Woodburn land surplus and because it’s no longer needed for a public purpose, the family which has always been associated with it has a right to have it back at agricultural prices.

He said the Woodburns can’t compete and buy it back at 1999 commercial prices and they shouldn’t be expected to.