The province should put the brakes on radical changes planned for the Agricultural Land Reserve until more comprehensive analysis and consultation are undertaken.
Delta Farmers' Institute president David Ryall had that to say about Bill 24, the Agricultural Land Commission Amendment Act, legislation introduced this spring that would split the farm reserve into two zones as well as introduce changes to the Agricultural Land Commission.
If approved, the ALR would be split into a South Coast zone, which includes Delta, and one for the northern regions of the province. While Delta and the southern zone would see no change, the new northern zone could be open for other uses, which will have an impact throughout the province as speculators move in, Ryall noted.
"I'm not really happy with the overall view of it because if it's easy to take it out of the Agricultural Land Reserve, that only pushes the value up, and the farmers can't afford to pay it," he said.
"There are farmers from here moving up to the Interior because the land is less expensive; they can't afford to farm the land here. They're coming up with crops that they can't afford to grow in the Lower Mainland anymore."
Ryall said that while new Minister of Agriculture Norm Letnick has met with the B.C. Agriculture Council, there has been little as far as consultation.
Letnick this week announced that changes would be introduced to the bill following complaints and concerns the government government received. Those changes include criteria the ALC must consider before making decisions on land use in the ALR.
The minister said the changes will improve the existing act, maintain the preservation of agricultural land as the number one priority, and continue to support farmers and the growth of the agricultural sector as was always intended.
Ryall is concerned it's not enough.
"I'm not against changes and when the ALR first came in, they made some good estimates where the boundaries should be. Some areas need to be modified and there is a process to make that happen. My understanding is that the land commission was
reviewing it, so there needs to be more consultation if they want to make those big changes, but they haven't done it until this point," he said.
"You hear about young farmers wanting to get involved and land prices are one of the biggest issues. This will start changing the horizon for those who could get better land prices somewhere else," he added.
Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington last week stated that failed consultation, misleading public relations and the B.C. Agriculture Council backing off its initial support should compel the government to back down from its "undemocratic" farmland legislation.
