You may have heard that the government's new Agricultural Land Commission Amendment Act is relatively benign. The reality is the bill will completely undermine the security of 90 per cent of B.C.'s agricultural land. Coupled with other changes, the bill affects all of the ALR, from the Peace River Valley to the Lower Mainland.
Let's start with the biggest change: the decision to split the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) into two zones. Zone 1 is Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland and Okanagan. Zone 2 is northern B.C., the Cariboo and Kootenays.
While the original mandate of the commission to "protect and preserve agricultural land" remains, the land in Zone 2 now has a series of non-farm uses that must also be considered during exclusion applications. These are undefined economic, cultural and social uses; local government community plans; and "other prescribed considerations" (i.e. prescribed in regulations).
To be clear: 90 per cent of the ALR in B.C. is now in Zone 2 and potentially available for non-agricultural uses. Ninety per cent. The government calls this "flexibility." I call it shortsighted and putting the future of B.C.'s food security at risk. And despite what ministers say, the ALR in northern B.C. has 72 per cent of the province's Class 1 to Class 4 farmland. That's 72 per cent.
Ministers will say there is land that shouldn't be protected and that is true, which is why the commission was already officially reviewing ALR boundaries. The government didn't need to make sweeping changes to remove this undesirable land from the reserve:
that work was already well underway.
The second big change is related to the regional panels that hear the exclusion applications. The informal panels will be solidified in law, and it is now a legal requirement that the six panels have members that reside in the region.
Oh, and the minister no longer consults with the chair of the ALC before he (not cabinet) appoints new commission members. It was only a very few years ago that the chair of the ALC finally convinced government that the existing panels should not have local residents reviewing applications: it was a potential conflict and land exclusions
jumped when local residents heard applications. Combined with the new non-farm uses, the government has paved the way to removing land from the ALR with as little objection as possible.
It should also be noted there are regional panels responsible for the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast, Vancouver Island and the Okanagan. The requirement that members reside in the region also applies to Zone 1, although it must be emphasized that non-farm uses do not apply to Zone 1. This bill threatens 90 per cent of the protected agricultural land in the province. If this land is lost to agriculture, it is certain that future generations will live to regret our decision.
We are entering a global transition to a hotter, drier world that will be challenged by extreme change. With careful, scientificallybased strategic planning, B.C. could become not only self-sufficient, but also might well become the agricultural centre of the continental west. But if we destroy our land by making shortsighted choices, that opportunity will be lost forever.
Please let the government know that choice is not acceptable.
