Freeloaders on the land
American-style anti-government eccentrics take root in Canada
UNTIL recently Canada was not known for the type of nutty anti-government movement that is a staple of life in the United States. That has changed because of a bizarre and protracted dispute between a landlord and a tenant in Calgary, Alberta.
It started as an ordinary row. The tenant, Andreas Pirelli, refused to pay his rent. But then, said his landlady, he declared that he was a “Freeman-on-the-Land”; that the house was now the First Nations Sovran Embassy of Earth; and that she no longer had any rights to it. Reporters were told they could interview Mr Pirelli if they produced C$5m ($4.8m) in gold. In the end he was arrested and she got her property back.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline "Freeloaders on the land"
From the October 12th 2013 edition
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