Home »
Kootenay farmers speak out to oppose Bill 24
Farmers from the Columbia Valley and Creston gathered at the steps of the B.C. Legislature in Victoria Monday morning (April 7) to speak out against the Agricultural Land Commission Amendment Act (Bill 24).
On March 27 the bill was introduced for first reading in the Legislature. If passed, the Agricultural Land Commission’s (ALC) Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) will be split into two zones. Zone 1 would include the Okanagan, Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland and Zone 2 would encompass the Kootenays, Interior and the North.
Zone 1 would be business as usual with the ALC and ALR but Zone 2 decision-making panels (of which there would six province-wide) will be allowed to make decisions considering economic, cultural and social values, as well as “regional and community planning objectives” and “other prescribed conditions” as per cabinet.
Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett, Minister of Energy and Mines and Minister for Core Review, introduced Bill 24.
“Changes made by my Core Review Committee maintain protection but will now take into account the farm family and helping farmers and ranchers stay on the land,” he stated in a release to the media. “ALC decisions will be made by people from the region. The six existing regional panels will be established in law and must have minimum of two members, maximum of three; all from that region. ALC will now have an obligation to report to the minister on service levels to the public.”
While admitting a better job could have been done concerning public consultation, Bennett maintains that the proposed changes will give farmers a shot at increased income.
Much farmland in the East Kootenay isn’t worth bothering with, Bennett suggested to reporters gathered outside the Legislature March 28.
“I get a kick out of the 100-mile diet, except where I live, you’d have to eat hay,” he said.
Invermere cattle rancher Dave Zehnder told e-KNOW Bennett is way off base with his assessment of agriculture in the region.
“Most of the farmers in the East Kootenay are against this,” he said, noting the Windermere Valley Farmers’ Institute is “unanimously” in favour of the bill being rejected. The Creston Valley Agricultural Society also submitted a letter of opposition.
Calling themselves “real farmers,” the farmers from the Columbia Valley and Creston issued the following statement during their appearance at the Legislature, which garnered province-wide media attention. They brought with them an abundance of bounty from the region to prove that is much more than just hay being farmed.
“We are here to oppose Bill 24. Real farmers are being hurt by the proposed changes. We have not been consulted. We want to make the ALR and ALC work better. This is not the way, and we are extremely upset about this bill and its impact on agriculture and food security in British Columbia.
“We have brought letters from farmers and farm organizations from our regions as they can’t be here themselves. We want to be heard before it’s too late. This bill is being rammed through.
“We are here from Bill Bennett’s riding. Poor Bill says he only has hay to eat as that is all that is produced there. He has consistently shown little understanding of agriculture and misrepresented the agriculture organizations and farmers from our region – who have all said that there must be consultation.
“We have brought a whole range of products that we are producing in his region, in his back yard right now. We want to provide him with a good meal so he doesn’t go hungry and can make better decisions.
“The bottom line is that there has been no consultation on Bill 24, its hurting farmers and the future of our province, and needs to be stopped today.”
Creston dairy farmer Erin Harris said, “The proposed changes are not in the farmers’ best interest. As a farmer from the area and a stakeholder, we have not been consulted. We are dependent upon rental land that is protected by the Agricultural Land Reserve.”
Former provincial MLA and Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks, Joan Sawicki worked at the Land Commission during its formative years between1973-81. She stated in an April 6 Vancouver Sun op-ed piece:
“The proposed two ALR zone concept offends the principles of fairness and consistency. Where is the consistency in awarding some B.C. farmers more ALR protection than others? Moreover, with relaxed criteria in Zone 2, why would hundreds of landowners who have had their applications refused — and had to accept that — not now come back for reconsideration?
“How does eliminating a provincial commission in favour of six regional panels meet government’s own test of ‘effective and efficient’? The provincial ALR was established precisely because regional authorities could not be relied upon to effectively protect farmland from non-farm development. Operating six panels will surely be less efficient and more costly than funding one provincial commission.”
Along with writing letters of opposition, concerning Bill 24, area farmers have taken to Twitter to tweet their concerns: https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=farmers4alr
Lead image: Creston’s Erin Harris and Windermere’s Edible Acres owner Oliver Egan with some of the bounty they brought from the Kootenays. Images submitted
Ian Cobb/e-KNOW
