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Nelson-Creston MLA Michelle Mungall opposed to Agricultural Land Reserve changes

Nelson-Creston MLA Michelle Mungall says changes threaten province’s food security and do nothing to help farmers produce food...
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Michelle Mungall is the member of the legislative assembly for the Nelson-Creston provincial riding

An overhaul of the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) that has at least some support from key agricultural sectors was announced by the B.C. government on March 27.

“From time to time, we need to look at organizations like the ALC to make sure as an organization it is serving the people of B.C. the best it can,” Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett said in making the announcement.

Bennett, minister of energy and mines, has also been examining all functions of the government as minister responsible for core review.

“These improvements achieve our goals of supporting the ALC in its role as independent decision maker, protecting our high quality farm land and still supporting farmers to get ahead,” he said.

Bennett said the ALC will now administer two zones “to better recognize the province’s regional differences.” Zone 1 includes Vancouver Island, the South Coast and Okanagan regions, while Zone 2 is comprised of the Interior, Kootenay and North regions. Zone 1 is the most productive of the province’s farmland, which also faces the largest development and population pressures.

“This is great news for our farmers in the Creston Valley,” said Regional Disitrict of Central Kootenay chair and Area B director John Kettle. “Some of them are hanging by a thread and this could provide more flexibility in what they do with their land.”

Zone 2 farmers “will be given broader flexibility to consider non-agricultural home-based businesses. Acceptable uses will be determined through regulation in consultation with the ALC, the agricultural sector and Union of BC Municipalities,” according to a news release.

Nelson-Creston MLA Michelle Mungall, however, says the changes threaten the province’s food security and do nothing to help farmers to keep producing food.

“The ALR (Agricultural Land Reserve) has been one zone for the very reason of protecting agricultural land across the province — we really don’t have a lot of agricultural land,” she said. “Every government until now has protected that land. But the Liberals are solely focused on one industry (development of liquid natural gas reserves) and they are sacrificing food security for it.”

Zone 1, she said, makes up only 10 per cent of the ALR.

“Ninety per cent of agricultural land, including the Kootenays, is not open to development,” she said. “And this has been done with no analysis of import prices or food security, especially important in this era of climate change.

“We know food production is imperative and the Liberals are throwing it out the window.”

There seems to be a general agreement among the province’s agricultural sectors that changes to the ALC are desirable, though it is too early to tell what the impact will be for individual farmers.

“The BCFGA understands changes must be made to the ALR in order to provide sustainability and profitability for the tree fruit industry,” said BC Fruit Growers Association president Fred Steele. “To ensure these changes benefit tree fruit growers and all farmers, we are prepared to engage in positive discussions with the province to ensure regulations benefit the farm industry and protect farmland in British Columbia.”

Linda Delli Santi, executive director of the BC Greenhouse Growers’ Association, echoed Steele’s sentiments.

“The BC Greenhouse Growers’ Association supports the government’s core review objective of modernizing the ALR and looks forward to the results of the consultations to create the details in regulations,” she said.

To help ensure the ALC is able to carry out its obligations, Bennett said funding from the BC government will increase to $3.5 million in 2014-2015, up $600,000 from the previous year. In 2012-2013, funding was $1.9 million.

Kettle said the aging population of B.C. farmers makes it imperative that changes to the ALC improve their options. In 2011, nearly two-thirds of B.C. farms were operated by people 55 years of age older. Only 6.4 per cent of operators were under 40, the lowest percentage in Canada.

Unless the government gets the message from the public, Mungall said, the B.C. government will continue to erode food security.

“The Liberals sold themselves on a strong economy, but a strong economy is a diverse economy,” she said. “Why would we do this in B.C.? It’s unreal.”

She said Kootenay residents are already gearing up to fight the ALC changes.

“I’ll speak in the legislature as often as I can on this issue,” Mungall said. “The public will not stand by. Letters to the government and letters to the editor should be written and others might choose to stand in protest outside the legislature. People need to take any action that feels appropriate to them.”