As this will be my last post on this blog I would like to discuss the variety of content I have learned over this exciting semester, but before that I want to talk about the recently completed case study.

As an assignment for the course every student in the class was required to pick a legal case related to surveying, and review then present it for the class. Through this process I have learned more than I could’ve imagined about surveying.

The particular case I decided to look at was 3209292 Nova Scotia Ltd. v. MacDuff, 2011 NSSC 363. The idea around this case was that the plaintiff and the defendant were claiming title to the same parcel of land, and so it was decided that through court proceedings the party with the better chain of title would receive the right to the land parcel (the island in this situation). As the case advanced it became evident that the defendant’s survey of the area was severely flawed. The surveyor was questioned in court and admitted the title abstract and deed didn’t line up, the dimensions of his survey did not make sense for the geography of the island, and he could not explain some of the results of his survey. This all resulted in the defendant’s losing the case and in turn the island.

I learned a lot from this case and I believe it is an excellent example for upcoming surveyors to study. Something important I took from this case is that people, even supposed professionals can make mistakes. Mr. Myra, the surveyor on this case, is well seasoned and has the education a surveyor requires and yet he still managed to make errors which should not have occurred in the first place. It is a surveyors responsibility to do as in-depth research as possible and pay attention to every little detail. The fact that his title abstract and deed did not line up was seemingly ignored and the result of his survey was not carefully analyzed. Interestingly enough the fact that the title abstract being used may have been for another island was not even considered by Mr. Myra either. Had the required precision of a surveyor been applied this case may have turned out differently. Reading these events in the case really opened my eyes to how important and intricate the job of a surveyor is, and was an example of the consequences of not putting your best work into each job put your way. Additionally this case showed the importance of documenting your work incase situations like this arise. During court Mr. Myra was unable to explain parts of his survey and was found admitting to many errors discovered by the plaintiff. Had he kept better documentation of the survey many of these errors could possibly have been explained and given the defendant more favour in the case. Overall, this case was an excellent example of what NOT to do as a surveyor.

Switching the topic of discussion I would like to conclude my final reflection by thinking of the past semester. Through the vast amounts of lectures, labs, and readings I have acquired a profound affection for land surveying and administration as a profession. Coming into this course I had little experience and knowledge in the subject matter and most of the material was new to me. But through this class I have learned about a plethora of topics including land parcels, boundaries, the history of surveying, legal systems, and so much more. I really cannot wait for future courses in my degree as they expand on these topics and I get to go into even more depth with them.

Personally I have had an interest in law for as long as I can remember, and so I had a particular interest in the legal aspects of land surveying. This course has therefore showed me a side of engineering which I can connect to my other interest, law, and I look forward to exploring this area of study much more and seeing where it can take me.

To wrap up, I can say this course was a positive learning experience which will almost definitely become a backbone to my upcoming years of study. For those of you considering taking a land administration class, do it. You won’t regret it and I certainly know I didn’t.

Isaac

Q1: Using Google Earth or Google Maps, find an image of each of the following types of survey system in Canada: (a) Seigneurial system, (b) Nova Scotia / New Brunswick Township System, (c) Ontario Township System (identify which type your example is), (d) Dominion Land Survey System, (e) British Columbia Survey System other than DLS, (f) unsystematic settlement in Newfoundland, and (g) Block and Lot Survey System

Q2:Choose some area in the world, outside of Canada. Based on a visual examination of that area in Google Earth / Google Maps, state (a) whether the land allocation appears to be systematic, (b) whether there is similarity to any Canadian survey system, (c) whether the area appears to be densely settled, (d) what kind of land use appears to be carried out there (e.g. industrial, residential, agriculture, forestry, or some combination of these), and (e) whether the land allocation appears to be a good fit for the land use and population density.

The area I decided to look at is Paris, France. Below is a piece of the city I intend to look at.

1. The land allocation for Paris appears to not be systematic and is extremely sporadic. Considering the age of the city this was expected.
2. Looking at the snapshot of the city there appears to be no correlation to any Canadian survey systems.
3. Being a snapshot of the core of Paris (one of the most densely populated cities in the world), this area is very densely settled. Just looking at the picture itself the area is clearly well populated.
4. This land is most definitely not used for agriculture/forestry/industry and appears to be primarily for residential and businesses use.
5. Considering the business and residential aspect of this area this land allocation is not ideal. For a city with such a high population density, business count, and tourism aspect, the random spider-web of streets and various lot sizes would make it a challenge to navigate. It would be much better to have a well organized grid like New York City, but considering Paris was heavily settled long before any systematic surveying methods the city being laid out as it is is not a surprise.

Recently in lecture we discussed the topic of different kinds of survey’s and the evolution of surveying methods. Just simply scrolling around the world on Google Earth one can see much older and sporadic urban plans, and much more modern layouts. Taking a look at London, a much older city than those in North America, a much less organized stance was taken into laying out the city:

But when looking at a much more modern city such as New York the developments in surveying and urban planning can be very clearly seen:

The reason for NYC being so much more appealing to the eye is because systematic surveying was clearly applied when developing the city. This means that lots were given very sharp, defined boundaries which were roughly equal in size. When looking at each “block” in the city, specifically in Manhattan, this is demonstrated. Each street along the lots are also well defined with clear labels such as “E 59th St”. This all results in a very organized and well planned city for which locating of individual parcels is made very easy alongside easy navigation of the city overall. I really find it fascinating how much surveying evolved during colonial times and the fact that two cities originally under the same flag can be so drastically different.

Another surveying system that I find particularly interesting is the seigneurial system which can be easily seen when looking online:

When establishing settlements in North America, the French applied the seigneurial system to their land developments. The idea behind this system is that a seigneur would rent the land to censitaires to raise families and work. The long slivers of land, as seen in the above screenshot, were designed to be systematic in that each lot provides farmers with the necessary land area and gives the tenant access to the river. While this seems like a reasonable plan, the way lots were distributed at the tenants death was not efficient. The lot was split up length wise, the widower receiving half the lot, the oldest son 1/4 of the lot, and the rest being divided among the remaining sons. Over time the lots end up getting so small they can’t be used for proper farming and are of little use to the owner. This major flaw appeared to have been overlooked when putting together the seigneurial system and is one of the reasons it ended up being replaced by the British township system.

The seigneurial system not only affected the landscape of New France but also the culture and development of the French settlers. Due to the plethora of land available at the time incoming people were able to freely choose where they would live, and more importantly who their seigneur was. This caused more settlers to migrate to more popular settlements and less to migrate to areas with bad seigneurs. Because of this the French people grew together as a community under their seigneur and established living areas to be passed on through generations. This helped define areas in Quebec still being lived in today.

While the provided screenshots are just some examples of surveying types there are of course many more depending where you are in the world. I look forward to learning about different ways land parcels are created and will definitely look into how other parts of the globe went about designing their living areas.

References:

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/seigneurial-system

Q1: For the parcel identified above, provide a plot showing both the current parcel and the original parcel. Students should use AutoCAD Civil 3D or another CAD system to create the plot, as this will give them practice for when they later use if for subdivision design. AutoCAD tutorials for relevant operations (and more) are available on D2L under Assignments–>AutoCAD Tutorials, and AutoCAD Civil 3D is available in the GGE computer lab. The most relevant tutorials will be CAD_021_Lot_Drawing, CAD_071_Annotating_Lot, and CAD_081_Dimensioning_Lot

Below is a plot containing the much larger, original crown parcel, and the much smaller current parcel.

The parcel began as a much larger area granted to John Robinson in 1789. Over the years this land was cut up into different parcels including my parcel of choice seen above.

Q1: Using the SNB PLANET system, find a parcel of somewhere in New Brunswick. For that parcel, identify the current owner.

The parcel I have chosen is located west of Fredericton. The current owner is Richard and Brian Dymond. The PID is 75311787.

Q2: Identify using the chain of owners of the parcel for the last 20 years, and the holder of the original Crown grant, by name. This is not a full abstract of title, so documents numbers, etc. are not needed, just the chain of names until you reach someone more than 20 years ago. You need only record holders of title to the parcel, and not other rights like easements or mortgages, so long as the land did not change hands.

In the past 20 years the ownership of the parcel has only changed once. This change occurred on September 1st, 2006. The grantor was Robert Dymond and the grantees were the current owners, Richard and Brian Dymond. The holder of the original Crown grant was John Robinson who received the parcel on October 23rd, 1789.

As a child, I remember running around the outside of my home, cutting across the front yard, weaving around trees, and climbing over the fence to the backyard. Occasionally, I would run around the perimeter of said fence just to see where it goes. I’d be out in the open for the longest time until getting to the side facing my neighbours house who also had a fence. The gap between my fence and the neighbours was only a few feet wide, but more than enough for me run through. Near the middle of this ally there was something that intrigued my every time I saw it: this small metal plate with wording etched into it I couldn’t make out. I tried time and time again to pull it out of the ground but no avail. Even as I got older and started mowing the lawn I would trim the grass in the ally and that metal plate would pop out. While I gave up on trying to take it home I still remained quizzical into its purpose. It was only this year where I learned that these small little plates are not plates, but are metal monuments stuck into the ground for the purpose of providing a boundary between lots.

Since taking this class and other Geomatics classes I have begun noticing things I never looked at twice. I finally understand what those “metal plates” are doing stuck in ground, and for another example why some trees have huge pieces of bark missing. I used to always assume this occurred from people damaging them or because the tree is dying but I now know its called tree blazing, another way to set markers for surveyors.

I’m only a second year Geomatics student but am already developing an eye for topics I’ve learned in class in the real world.

On a different note, something we learned in lecture has peaked my interest in particular; air space parcels. With regular condominiums the tenant owns specific parts of the area. For example the boundary could extend to the exterior drywall, windows, and floor surfaces. With respect to shared walls the dividing ownership point is usually to the middle of the studs. With air parcels though, the home is treated similarly to a parcel of land, where the boundary is given by coordinates in airspace creating a three dimensional parcel in the air. I find the concept of someone owning a section of air extremely interesting and only brings questions. What happens if the building is shifted or destroyed? Could ownership of this airspace block future construction? This is a topic I will be researching much more myself and I hope to hear more about it in future lectures or future Geomatics classes.

Q1: Find and example of an advertisement. It could be an image, or a video, and could be for anything – a product, to support a politician, etc.. For that example, indicate whether pathos, ethos, and/or logos are used to persuade you to buy this product.

There are three main persuasive appeals; ethos, where the speaker appeals to his own character, pathos, where the speaker appeals to emotion, and logos, where the speakers appeals to reason. The above ad, for Ram trucks, would be an example of pathos persuasion. The ad states “A Hemi for his foot”, in reference to the satisfaction the customer would receive when driving the truck. This is put into contrast with a woman’s love for diamond jewelry to cement the feeling the owner of the truck will have.

Q2: For one of the cases under the “Cases” folder for the Module VI readings, read the case, write a correct legal citation for it, and state (one of two sentences) why it is important for a surveyor trying to determine the boundaries of a parcel of land.

The case I am going to look at is Kingston v. Highland.

The legal citation would be: Kingston v. Highland [1919] 47 N.B.R 324

This case is important for surveyors trying to determine the boundaries of a parcel of land because it highlights how important further research is and to not make assumptions. As stated in the case surveyors mustn’t assume where the boundary should be and research must be done into the location of original monuments and descriptions before establishing a new boundary.

Q3: View the file named “Survey_Plan_for_Description.PDF” in the “Assignments” folder on D2L. Based on the information in this file, write a metes and bounds description for the parcel labeled “Part I”. Note that it is not necessary that you description be perfect – only that you go through the exercise of writing a fairly good one.

Lot 26 Concession 7 in the Township of East Hawkesbury within the County of Prescott, Ontario

Beginning at the north-westerly corner of part 1, marked with a 5/8″ iron bar; thence travelling easterly along the post & wire fence at bearing S67 29 30E a distance of 199′ to the 1″ iron bar; thence maintaining the same bearing a distance of 10′ to the north-eastern corner of plot 1; thence S16 51 30W a distance of 220′ to the 5/8″ iron bar; thence N67 29 30W a distance of 209′ to the 5/8″ iron bar; thence N16 51 30E a distance of 220′ to the place of beginning.

Recent class discussions and readings have made me reflect how fortunate I am as a Canadian citizen to live under a fair system of law, unlike many nations in the world today.

In Canada, we are governed by Common Law, as is the UK and her past colonies. With Common Law case proceedings are carried out in court systems and judges can interpret the situation. Canada is also governed by Civil Law though, but just in Quebec. Civil Law is the most popular system in the world and follows set law codes. Both systems are effective and fair and are used by the majority of free nations around the world.

Outside of Civil and Common Law another legal system, Muslim (Sharia) Law, dominates the Middle East and parts of Northern Africa. The controversial legal system is solely based on the Islamic Religion and takes the word of God from the Quran as the rule of law. The results are devastating on the exposed society.

Saudi Arabia is an example of a current nation run by Sharia Law and because of it has become a country described by some as “stuck in the medieval ages”. The legal system suppresses freedom of speech and citizens can be jailed or beaten just for criticizing the ruling government or questioning Islamic rule. Women are beaten for committing what is deemed adultery, even under cases of rape, and are ruled by their husband. The country is the definition of a dystopian civilization and yet was a member of the UN Human Rights Council.

The idea of such a legal system being widely used as it is in the 21st Century is absolutely ludicrous and yet its grasp over vast populations remains uncontested by major world powers including the US and UK. While I implore for a time when anyone can express their beliefs without being lashed, it is unlikely considering Saudi Arabia’s geopolitical power and influence on world economies.

As a Canadian Citizen I will never take my freedoms and rights for granted and hope the rest of the suppressed world may be able to experience a proper legal system.

As the course as become underway, a variety of topics have been discussed but one in particular caught my eye. In Module II, when looking at land tenure, the Black Death came up and how land use was greatly effected by it. Personally, I already have a passion for history, medieval especially, and so I decided to dig into this more.

While the Black Death was a devastating occurrence in human history and resulted in the majority of Europe being slaughtered, some managed to prosper. Before the beginning of the Black Death Europe was already over-populated and peasants struggled to find work and food for their families. As waves of the Black Death rolled in and out though more land was left abandoned and less workers were available for land owners, the top of the social class, to employ. These changes caused the peasants of Europe to flourish.

With the low amount of workers, land owners were desperate. Peasants knew this though, and took advantage by demanding high wages. This resulted in peasants rising in the social order at a rapid pace. On top of this because of the vast amount of unattended land peasants were able to expand farms and take control of large amounts of land creating an influx of produce production and again made peasants become wealthy and powerful very quickly.

The newfound advancement in peasant wealth jarred the social hierarchy of Europe. So much so that the upper class citizens created Sumptuary law which prevented peasants from rising in the social order of medieval Europe by forcing them to wear specific clothing and by enforcing wage maximum’s, stopping the high wage demands made early on.

The fact that land can cause an entire social class to break boundaries and thrive proves how important it is in the world and its history. In the medieval ages land was a show of your power and importance, something which I believe still applies today. Countries in today’s world express their influence and power by expanding their borders or even creating map’s projected to make their nation look larger than others. Russia, for example, is currently showing aggression to eastern Ukraine in order to expand their land control.

Researching events like this feeds my expanding interest in Land Administration and only asserts my view on how crucial it really is to society. I look forward to learning about topics similar to this in class and will definitely be reading up on more historical events fuelled by the influence of land.

Resources:

• https://www.historytoday.com/archive/black-death-greatest-catastrophe-ever
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/black_impact_01.shtml

Q1: Develop a research question related to Geomatics, but not necessarily related to Land Administration

“What are the concerns and taboo surrounding civilian drone use?”

Q2: Locate 3 sources that would help you answer your question: one book (1), one journal article (2), and one website (3)

1. Perritt, H. H., & Sprague, E. O. (2016). Domesticating drones: The technology, law, and economics of unmanned aircraft. London: Routledge.
2. Gallacher, D. (2016). Drones to manage the urban environment: Risks, rewards, alternatives. Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems,4(2), 115-124. doi:10.1139/juvs-2015-0040
3. Sweeney, N. (2017, October 16). Civilian Drone Use in Canada. Retrieved February 2, 2019, from https://lop.parl.ca/sites/PublicWebsite/default/en_CA/ResearchPublications/201723E

Q3: For each source, provide a citation in APA or Lecture Notes 54 format, and give a brief assessment of it

I gave my citations in Q2

1. The book “Domesticating drone: The technology, law, and economics of unmanned aircraft.” , was published by Routledge in London, England, in 2016 and written by multiple authors. The book touches around the subject of assimilating drone use into society and appears to have no bias to the use of drone nor a bias towards the ban on them. The book rather summarizes the current climate of regular drone use by talking about benefits regarding their use but also the problems they bring. Being published in 2016 this book carries very new information and is a great resource for current arguments.
2. Published in the Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems, this article focuses on the use of drones for environmental use and assess security and privacy issues regarding them. I believe this article is more biased towards supporting drone use as it was written for a UAV based journal. Being published in 2016 though this article may bring recent topics into light and also have still relevant explanations. On top of this the article provides a plethora of references all varying in countries of origin, news stations, and governments allowing for various viewpoints.
3. This website, being published onto the Library of Parliments website (presumably very credible) contains a report of data and facts gathered around the topic of civilian drone use in Canada and family nations. The author goes into detail explaining what a drone is, its various uses, and talks about the current laws surrounding drones. When necessary, each statement is labelled with a footnote leading to the large amount of references, similar to the Journal article. This webpage is a great resource for my research question as it provides important facts and statistics backed up with the source for me to utilize.