Beach O' Pines

Beach O' Pines is a private gated community located on the shores of Lake Huron in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. Beach O' Pines was the site of what is considered one of the most important real estate and civil rights cases in Ontario and Canadian history, in which the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a restrictive covenant that restricted ownership of a section of land to "persons of the white or Caucasian race". [http://www.aaron.ca/columns/2003-11-29.htm Lawyer Robinette played key civil rights role, "Toronto Star"] ]

Beach O' Pines is located just outside of the community of Grand Bend, Ontario, and is bordered by to the northwest by Lake Huron, the southwest by the Pinery Provincial Park, the northeast by the subdivision of Southcott Pines, and the southeast by the Old Ausable River Channel, Highway #21, and the subdivision of Huron Woods.

Noble v. Alley

"Noble v. Alley" was a famous Supreme Court of Canada case where the decision of the court struct down a restrictive covenant that restricted ownership to the properties inside Beach O' Pines to "persons of the white or caucasian race". The case began in April 1948, when Bernard Wolf signed an agreement to buy a cottage property in Beach O' Pines. A title search of the property by his lawyer discovered the restrictive covenant in the original property deed.

The covenant restricting the ownership of the property was upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal and was overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada in a vote of 6 to 1 because the language used in the text was ambiguous. [ [http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1950/1950canlii13/1950canlii13.html Noble et al. v. Alley, 1950 CanLII 13 (S.C.C.)] ]

ee also

* Ausable River (Ontario)
* Grand Bend, Ontario
* Lake Huron
* Pinery Provincial Park
* Noble v. Alley
* Supreme Court of Canada

References

* [http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/en/browseSubjects/noblevAlley.asp Noble v. Alley]
* [http://www.aaron.ca/columns/2001-03-03.htm Why racist restrictions no longer apply in land deals, "Toronto Star"]
* [http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infonews/release/1998/069%20Racism%20in%20Canada%20topic%20of%20book,%20April%2016,%201998.html UW historian's new book deals with racism in Canada]