Daniel,
Thank you for your wonderful answer. I have a feeling this is going to be interesting territory and that I will be working with our City Solicitor quite a bit to figure this out.
My first thought is to get either a by-law or policy in place so that we have something written down that acknowledges the City’s right to reclaim its records, especially those still considered active (as they are permanent) under our records retention by-law. I feel that it will be best to establish the legal right to the records before reaching out to those institutions that I know hold records from our predecessor municipalities (I figure amalgamation will make things even more fun as some may feel that because the former township does not exist as a municipality its records are all historical). I had read the North Carolina case – it was fascinating! I was also explaining to someone why the former President did not have the rights to those records but most who do not work in records do not see it as a big deal.
I hope to be up for the challenge and it will be interesting to see where this goes.
Thank you again,
Angela
Angela Fornelli, MSc.
Manager, Corporate Records and Archival Services / Municipal Archivist
Clerk’s Office, City of Kawartha Lakes
705-324-9411, ext. 1136
Cell: 705-878-3030 www.kawarthalakes.ca
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From: German, Daniel <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2023 3:52 PM
To: Angela Fornelli <[log in to unmask]>; [log in to unmask]
Subject: RE: Ontario Law & the Process of Replevining Records
Fascinating question.
The legal doctrine of replevin certainly seems to apply in Ontario, but as I am sure you know, is usually used to recover stolen cars. It's use in document recovery is quite limited, and I have never read of a Canadian case, although, of course, that hardly means it has not happened.
For those who are not familiar with the concept, it basically means that if you own something, and it is taken from you outside legal grounds, you still own it. Thus, if a politician walks off with local government documents, they still belong to the government. Internationally, you can look at Donald Trump facing charges for taking and keeping documents without the legal right to do so. There was another American example that hit the manuscript world circa 1980, when a dealer offered the state Archives of North Carolina (I believe) some colonial documents for sale the dealer was shocked when the state seized them, declaring that although the documents had not been in state hands for 2 centuries (they were taken by members of the colonial government as they fled the American Revolution, and passed down through the family) the State of North Carolina had proclaimed upon establishment that it owned all the property and assets of the former Colony of North Carolina - AND HAD NEVER WAIVED THEIR CLAIM OF OWNERSHIP. I believe this was later upheld by the State's Supreme Court.
So, again, a fascinating question, but good luck finding a lawyer with applicable experience with the application to documentary heritage. It might have been used by the National Library of Canada in the 1990's in a court case in NYC over ownership of some Glen Gould docs, but a very rare example.
Have fun
Daniel German
Sent from my Bell Samsung device over Canada's largest network.
-------- Original message --------
From: Angela Fornelli <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 2023-08-15 3:30 p.m. (GMT-05:00)
Subject: Ontario Law & the Process of Replevining Records
Apologies if this has been asked an answered previously but I was wondering if anyone out there knows about Ontario law as it related to the replevin process? For example if a municipality, hypothetically, is trying to build a policy/by-law around getting back municipal records that are now at other institutions what other legislation or laws might help in that process?
Thanks for your time,
Angela Fornelli, MSc.
Manager, Corporate Records and Archival Services / Municipal Archivist
Clerk’s Office, City of Kawartha Lakes
705-324-9411, ext. 1136
Cell: 705-878-3030 www.kawarthalakes.ca
This message, including any attachments, is privileged and intended only for the addressee(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not read, use or disseminate the information contained in this e-mail. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately by telephone, fax, or e-mail and shred this confidential e-mail, including any attachments, without making a copy. Access to this e-mail by anyone else is unauthorized.
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