'Frustrated and upset': St. Clements farmers battle crop-destroying off-roaders
During an already tough growing season, farmers in the Rural Municipality of St. Clements are dealing with another issue involving people destroying crops.
Ron Petaski, a farmer in St. Clements, has been struggling to keep people from off-roading in his fields.
The 76-year-old said it's always been an issue with two subdivisions close to his farm, but it's a lot worse this year.
"Both frustrated and upset," said Petaski about how he feels. "I'm at a loss of words. There are several thousand dollars in losses."
Fed up with the tire tracks covering his field, Petaski managed to catch up with two teens using ATVs on his property.
After a lengthy chat, the teens agreed to stick to the grassy trails and shook Petaski's hand before leaving.
"I tried to drill into their heads that we use these fields for our income. We seed crops and if they keep going over the fields, we won't have any success growing anything," said Petaski.
The ATVs, however, returned, prompting Petaski to erect no trespassing signs.
pateski
No tresspassing signs put up by Pateski to try and stop off-rodaers from going over his fields. (Source: Ron Petaski)
To Pateski's disappointment, the signs were knocked down and the off-roaders kept coming.
Pateski called RCMP, which tracked down one of the teen's grandfathers based on a phone number on the side of one of the ATVs.
Since that incident, Pateski has called RCMP several more times about off-roaders in his fields.
"I've kind of come to the conclusion that they just don't care," he said.
"How will I ever recoup that if they won't charge the kids with trespassing? I'm the one left holding the bag and about ready to quit."
The trespassing issue isn't just a problem for Pateski but for farmers across the RM.
"Pretty much all the farmers. There might be one or two that are lucky this year, but they've all had problems in the past," noted Pateski.
Farmers in the St. Clements area have been struggling to keep off-roaders out of their fields. (Source: Ron Pateski)
A photo of tire tracks over Pateski's fields before he seeded them for the year. (Source: Ron Pateski)
An RCMP spokesperson told CTV News that complaints regarding off-road vehicles are quite common this time of year and that the RCMP does "absolutely address them."
They noted that, when it comes to charges, it is a bit of a tough situation. The spokesperson said officers need to have evidence of a person trespassing and causing damage before they can contemplate a charge.
The RCMP advises farmers to post signage in highly visible areas, incorporate fencing around their property and, if feasible, have security cameras on site.
As for the RM of St. Clements, the municipality said there isn't much it can do.
“It's very hard for us to enforce because the Off-Road Vehicles Act is through the province and it's the RCMP who would enforce that," said Debbie Fiebelkorn, mayor of the RM.
"If we could do something, I know our bylaw enforcement officer has looked into this also, and the best we can do is try and do an education campaign."
Fiebelkorn said the RM would post a reminder on its website and put it in its August newsletter.
"It's been a tough year for everybody, including the farmers. So I would hope people using off-road vehicles and ATVs would be a little bit more mindful of where they are driving and not go into farmers' fields," she said.
As for Pateski, he'd either like to see more action taken or a new way to identify ATVs like a licence plate system.
"You lose if you try to catch them and someone gets hurt, but when you see this destruction going on in front of you, how can you not want to do something?" he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW From yearning for a change to cost of living, why some Canadians have left or may leave the country
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
NEW Capital gains tax change 'shortsighted' and 'sows division' business groups tell Freeland
Forging ahead with increasing Canada's capital gains inclusion rate 'sows division,' and is a 'shortsighted' way to improve the deficit, business groups are warning Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Canucks claw out 5-4 comeback win over Oilers in Game 1
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
Florida deputies who fatally shot U.S. airman burst into wrong apartment, attorney says
Deputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot a Black U.S. Air Force airman who was home alone when they saw he was armed with a gun, an attorney for the man's family said Wednesday.
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Nijjar murder suspect says he had Canadian study permit in immigration firm's video
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.