The government hypocrisy of regulating one of the best means of environmentalism.
Chris
Dec 5, 2019
Homeowners across Canada are facing extreme challenges with the concept of transitioning to off-grid living, despite the fact that the lifestyle is both individually responsible and environmentally conservative. What is off-grid living, what is the appeal to homeowners, and why do government and big business make it so problematic to live more modestly?
Living off the grid, or an “off-grid” community as defined by the Government of Canada refers to one which “is not connected to the North American electrical grid nor a piped natural gas network and has been settled in for at least five years and has at least ten dwellings”. This is also referred to as a “remote community”. For many Canadians, this is an attractive lifestyle as a means to save on increasing hydro bills and to reduce one’s carbon footprint. Most of Canada, as far as geography, is off the grid. By population, Canada demonstrates a much different conclusion.
According to census data from 2006, there are approximately 195,000 (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) citizens living in remote communities across Canada. However, in the vast geography of Ontario, there are only 21,000 people living in thirty-eight remote communities (thirteen of which are non-Aboriginal communities).
The number of off-grid communities in Canada has decreased in the last twenty-five years due to grid expansion and abandoned communities. Though, the number of Canadians living in remote communities has not changed. While utility companies continue to invest in their infrastructure in order to create a bigger pool of customers, Canadians are remaining in off-grid communities because they are not interested in being tied to the grid.
With the rising costs of fuel due to various factors including halted pipelines and carbon tax implementation, Canadians are redefining what their household needs are, and are making choices to downsize their homes and become more self-sufficient. Factor in both the outlandish need of many to virtue signal about carbon consumption with skyrocketing demands for affordable housing, and it is no wonder why decreasing your square-footage and creating a sustainable energy system for the home is more popular than ever.
“One of the great appeals of off-grid living is that it allows you to practice a form of voluntary simplicity based in frugality, sustainability, self-sufficiency, and resilience,” says Phillip Vannini, Professor and Canadian Research Chair at University of Victoria, and co-Documentary Creator of Life off Grid.
Off-grid homes are more efficient than grid-connected homes due to various factors such as insulation, a smaller footprint to heat and illuminate, and a design that makes the most of sustainable solar energy.
Author of Off The Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America Nick Rosen, offers that the profile of the typical “off gridder” has changed in that there are many more urbanites that decide to modify their lifestyle for off-grid living including single men, single women, couples young and mature, and even families.
A report found on NRCan (Natural Resources Canada) attempted to collect information on Canada’s current remote communities including what the electricity infrastructure looks like in each of these communities, what methods are used to obtain utilities (ie. Diesel generators) and what renewable energy tactics might be better utilized based on the energy demands. A snapshot was presented to demonstrate electricity production and consumption but in their own summary it is admitted that factual information was difficult to record and so they just conclude that, “the fact is that the remote communities must find ways to become more self-sufficient and environmentally sustainable”.
If the government will state that remote communities require more self-sufficiency and environmental sustainability, than why are they making it difficult or even impossible to transition to this lifestyle?
A homeowner in Clark’s Harbour, Nova Scotia has been denied a certificate of occupancy because there is no electricity in her 280sqft home. National Building Codes in Canada require new homes to have wiring for smoke detectors and ventilation systems. Regardless of the fact that most homes use wireless, battery-operated smoke detectors. Building codes are federal law but are enforced by the municipal government.
The Government of Ontario website reveals, “In areas where there is no electrical service the Building Code allows buildings to be ‘off grid’.” It also declares that tiny homes are not permitted in every municipality and the Building Code must be referenced. Each municipality has a different set of rules for these kinds of homes including various square-footage minimum requirements. Most counties require a home to be at least 500 to 1,000sqft, with the occasional requirement as low as 400sqft. Why would these square-foot minimum requirements exist?
In my rural community where services are not as plentiful as the city, acreage per property is higher, and utilities include additional charges for delivery that can be 200% of the actual utility usage, the minimum square-foot allowance is 1,000sqft with a proposed amendment to 538sqft or 50 square meters. The government will not allow you to build a smaller, more efficient home, which takes less energy to heat and illuminate.
In many communities in both the US and Canada that may allow tiny homes, you are not allowed to live in that tiny home for the full 12 months out of the year. Before you can build your tiny home, you may have it judged by a Municipal Planning Committee on whether your home “matches” other homes on the street. Harriet Tregoning, Urban Planner, formerly of Washington DC Office of Planning states that cities like Houston, Texas (that do not have zoning bylaws or regulation) are “not exactly the full flower of, you know, urbanism.” It seems to me that the elite nature of government would rather be concerned about what homes look like, rather than providing opportunities for housing at reasonable affordability to prevent the increasing issue of homelessness in city centers with high cost-per-square-foot homes.
It’s unfortunate we don’t have more government officials like former Mayor of Victoria, Texas, Will Armstrong who says, “Property rights in Texas are sacred” and that we can’t recognize an admiration for property rights in Canada like they have in Texas.
Some counties will not allow you to disconnect from the grid. Why would this be a requirement? What level of government control are you comfortable with when it comes to telling you what kind of home you can live in, how you can source your energy, and what amenities you choose to live without?
Increasing red tape has made living off-grid in some North American communities illegal. In the US, in addition to violating municipal codes, off-gridders are also at risk of imprisonment and fines for child endangerment, cruelty to animals, and even be cast as a threat to Homeland Security if you are using fertilizer in your sustainable system.
Canada can’t even provide clean water to remote Aboriginal communities and they are concerned about off-gridders creating their own means for collecting clean water for their homes. Imagine the innovation that could develop from individuals learning to live sustainably and sharing those innovations with suffering communities across the country. Governments prefer that a semi-off grid plan is utilized which offers an avenue for regulation and tax collection. They do not want Canadians to be independent, self-reliant, and without the need of government intervention.
I know what you are thinking, but we keep getting told to reduce our carbon footprint in order to reduce our ‘manmade’ effect on climate change! So why do we not see an encourage by the government for off-grid and tiny home living?
A Global News article, Why Living Off The Grid Isn’t Possible For Most Canadians, Nicole Mortillaro suggests, “taking hydro from the grid means we don’t have to think very hard about the energy we consume. We can leave all our appliances plugged in, run the air conditioner, leave the lights on, keep the refrigerator cold.” Aren’t these all the things we have been told to do less of in order to save the planet? Tom Rand, Senior Advisor at Cleantech at MaRS and Managing Partner at Arctern Ventures (support organizations for high-growth startups promoting clean technology) suggests if the concern is about the environment then consider cutting out red meat from your diet. “It’s hard to complain about climate change if you can’t even cut out a burger.” So not only must you believe the hype that big changes must be made to stop climate change, but you will also be told which lifestyle changes are permitted and not permitted. Stay in a big house, stop eating burgers, planet saved… right!
In the case of the homeowner in Clark’s Harbour, she wonders why she is being forced to rely on fossil fuels in her new home if she doesn’t want to. It seems contrary to what we are being told about our energy usage. On page 11 of the NRCan report (link below) outlining the report’s, “Environmental Concerns” of which the first point states, “burning large amounts of diesel produces substantial greenhouse gas emissions. This contributes to climate change which negatively affects Northern communities.” The Government of Canada’s Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada website suggested Climate Change as 'Related Reading' which outlines Climate Change Programs for Indigenous and Northern communities. There is so much lecturing about climate change that Canadians remain mystified regarding why off-grid living is not better supported by all levels of government.
What other massive bodies have something to lose with the popularity of off-grid living? The electric companies are starting to panic. Edison Electric Institute issued a report warning that a change in the way people view the grid may be altered, similar to the effect of landline phones when cellphone technology expanded. Hydro-electricity companies in Canada have jurisdiction monopolies with the services they provide. Very little competition allows for electricity rates to increase without the consequence of losing customers. With the option of sustainable energy, tiny homes, and renewable systems, hydro companies for the first time are experiencing competition and they don’t like it.
Some financial institutions will not provide loans to off-grid builders and in one comment on offgridworld.com an owner stated his home loan was reversed after the fact and he was forced to immediately pay the loan back in full. Insurance companies are concerned about homes heated by wood or coal, they do not want to insure these homes and add to the difficulty for off-gridders to build homes not reliant on the grid.
Your only option, according to the government, is to be connected to the national power grid (if it is available to you, which increasingly it is). We are told that Canadians (and North Americans) are using too much fossil fuel and therefore we need to implement taxation to discourage over-usage. You cannot curb your own usage by removing yourself from the grid without massive amounts of red tape, insurance issues, and government intervention. You must stay on their power supply and pay the utility rates and carbon tax they tell you to which will increase exponentially between now and 2050.
In future articles when I discuss the hypocrisy of the Climate Change ‘cult’ movement, I encourage Canadians to keep in mind the ways in which the government wants to control how we live from the burgers we can’t eat, to the reduced-footprint homes we can’t build, all in the name of supposed climate change. The future of sustainable living is off-grid living. And those excited to transition to this lifestyle should be supported by the government in the name of conservation, innovation, and prosperity.
Global News, Why Living Off The Grid Isn't Possible For Most Canadians
Off The Grid News, Canada Bans Off Grid Living And It's Happening In The US Too
Should Canadians Have A Right To Live Off The Grid
Natural Resources Canada, Remote Communities Report
[US] States With Laws And What They Are About Living Off The Grid
Government of Canada, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada
Government of Ontario, Tiny Home Municipal Rules and Regulations
The Tyee, Off-Grid In Canada
Off-Grid World, Off-Grid Living Is Illegal Sort Of
Jay Austin's Beautiful, Illegal Tiny House
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