Back in 1990, my spouse Michèle and my son François were sun-bathing in my house's backyard which borders the forest belonging to the Royal Ottawa Golf Club. A visiting friend noticed that a thick branch on a tree near the fence was dead, but I did not think much about it. One year later, the thick branch fell onto my property. I was utterly shocked because my baby could have been hurt or worse if such a thick branch had fallen onto him. Moreover, dead or felled trees, fallen branches, etc. pose fire hazard.
We immediately telephoned the Royal Ottawa Golf Club. Thankfully, the superintendent (Steve) promptly dispatched an arborist to cut down the sick tree. Steve mentioned that we could just cross the fence and chop off tree branches any time we see such a problem again next time.
Liability issue was not discussed, so I took this as goodwill invitation for peaceful coexistence in the civilised spirit of harmonious neighbour relationship rather than fighting criminal negligence in the court. Since then, my family has enjoyed cross-country skiing by trespassing on Royal Ottawa Golf Club's property over the years.
Thank you very much for your attention.
To whom it may concern
Later, while I was cross-country skiing on the golf course, I encountered club member Benoît whose father had put up trail signs (Benoît Boulevard, Champs-Élysées, Edge Road, Hawthorn Avenue, Lovink Street, etc.). He told me that if the ski trails were not used much, the maintenance crew would stop grooming them. Thus, he explicitly encouraged non-members to ski on the trails.
