Stop the Land Grab in British Columbia
Created October 10th 2008
Over the years there have been many articles in BC (and national) newspapers regarding the apparent land grab by the BC Agricultural Land Commission (ALC). The land grab I am referring to is the permanent removal of some of the province's most precious and productive agricultural land from the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) for commercial, industrial, recreational, residential and even religious purposes.
The ALC was created in the 1970 by a most progressive Dave Barrett government (NDP) to protect what little agricultural land we had/have in BC. Five percent of the province was set aside for protection. Today however we have both municipal and provincial (Liberal) politicians making backroom deals with developers to remove land for purposes other than food production.
An article in the Globe and Mail two years ago indicated that there was a push to open the ALR by the provincial government by stacking the deck in favour of those members who support the removal land from the reserve (June 13, 2006).
Interestingly, if you take a look at the biographies of some of the individuals at the Commission you will find one fellow who has no experience in the agricultural field whatsoever -- he is an insurance agent. Closer examination of this individual, and others, results in other interesting findings namely their political affiliation.
On the ALC website they had over 550 applications province-wide for removal of land from the reserve in 2005 this doesn't even include the applications from previous years. Over 200 of these were in the Lower Mainland and the Okanagan -- areas of the province where agricultural land is the most precious.
Over the past several years there have been numerous articles written in various newspapers regarding the removal of agricultural land throughout BC. None of them very positive.
Richmond's 55 hectare (136 acre) Garden City Lands is no stranger to controversy. For many years the Canada Lands Company (an arm of the federal goverment) sought to have the Lands removed from the ALR without success. During this time Tourism Richmond and the City of Richmond have been hopeful because they wanted to see development of the Lands: development which would have included a $75 million 400,000 square foot trade and convention centre. The problem is that in September 2006 the ALC TURNED DOWN the application for removal. As far as I know the decision was to be FINAL. Fast forward to September 2008, the Commission is set to make it's, wait for it, SECOND determination! The decision is to occur in the next few weeks. If this parcel of land goes, it is widely believed that many others across the province will follow.
We should all be asking our MLA's...
(1) why there is a process for removal of land when land for food production in this province is such a limited resource,
(2) why they are playing politics within the ALC,
(3) and what they plan on doing once our agricultural land has been given away for homes, industrial parks, golf courses, big boxes stores and churches.
Amazingly enough, the ALC's mandate has been and still is... (1) to preserve agricultural land, (2) to encourage farming in collaboration with other communities of interest, (3) and to encourage local governments, First Nations, the government and its agents to enable and accommodate farm use of agricultural land and uses compatible with agriculture in their plans, bylaws and policies.
I strongly believe (and many others do as well) that the loss of agricultural land (both here in BC and elsewhere around the world) is leading to consolidation of food production into fewer and fewer hands. Why should we care? Well, with less and less choice as to where we get our food from, at some point in the future BC may be unable to feed itself if things continue they way they are going. This I belive is completely unacceptable.
Please sign this petition indicating your disapproval of the tactics of the ALC and the support given by the Provincial Liberal government.
Once you have signed the petition, please pass it on to as many people as possible. If you could also indicate the BC community you live in this would greatly help our chances of swaying the powers-that-be.
Thanks everyone!
Update! February 2009. The ALC rejected the request to remove the Garden City Lands from the ALR! Nice work everyone!
Rob
Coquitlam, B.C.
Created October 10th 2008
Over the years there have been many articles in BC (and national) newspapers regarding the apparent land grab by the BC Agricultural Land Commission (ALC). The land grab I am referring to is the permanent removal of some of the province's most precious and productive agricultural land from the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) for commercial, industrial, recreational, residential and even religious purposes.
The ALC was created in the 1970 by a most progressive Dave Barrett government (NDP) to protect what little agricultural land we had/have in BC. Five percent of the province was set aside for protection. Today however we have both municipal and provincial (Liberal) politicians making backroom deals with developers to remove land for purposes other than food production.
An article in the Globe and Mail two years ago indicated that there was a push to open the ALR by the provincial government by stacking the deck in favour of those members who support the removal land from the reserve (June 13, 2006).
Interestingly, if you take a look at the biographies of some of the individuals at the Commission you will find one fellow who has no experience in the agricultural field whatsoever -- he is an insurance agent. Closer examination of this individual, and others, results in other interesting findings namely their political affiliation.
On the ALC website they had over 550 applications province-wide for removal of land from the reserve in 2005 this doesn't even include the applications from previous years. Over 200 of these were in the Lower Mainland and the Okanagan -- areas of the province where agricultural land is the most precious.
Over the past several years there have been numerous articles written in various newspapers regarding the removal of agricultural land throughout BC. None of them very positive.
Richmond's 55 hectare (136 acre) Garden City Lands is no stranger to controversy. For many years the Canada Lands Company (an arm of the federal goverment) sought to have the Lands removed from the ALR without success. During this time Tourism Richmond and the City of Richmond have been hopeful because they wanted to see development of the Lands: development which would have included a $75 million 400,000 square foot trade and convention centre. The problem is that in September 2006 the ALC TURNED DOWN the application for removal. As far as I know the decision was to be FINAL. Fast forward to September 2008, the Commission is set to make it's, wait for it, SECOND determination! The decision is to occur in the next few weeks. If this parcel of land goes, it is widely believed that many others across the province will follow.
We should all be asking our MLA's...
(1) why there is a process for removal of land when land for food production in this province is such a limited resource,
(2) why they are playing politics within the ALC,
(3) and what they plan on doing once our agricultural land has been given away for homes, industrial parks, golf courses, big boxes stores and churches.
Amazingly enough, the ALC's mandate has been and still is... (1) to preserve agricultural land, (2) to encourage farming in collaboration with other communities of interest, (3) and to encourage local governments, First Nations, the government and its agents to enable and accommodate farm use of agricultural land and uses compatible with agriculture in their plans, bylaws and policies.
I strongly believe (and many others do as well) that the loss of agricultural land (both here in BC and elsewhere around the world) is leading to consolidation of food production into fewer and fewer hands. Why should we care? Well, with less and less choice as to where we get our food from, at some point in the future BC may be unable to feed itself if things continue they way they are going. This I belive is completely unacceptable.
Please sign this petition indicating your disapproval of the tactics of the ALC and the support given by the Provincial Liberal government.
Once you have signed the petition, please pass it on to as many people as possible. If you could also indicate the BC community you live in this would greatly help our chances of swaying the powers-that-be.
Thanks everyone!
Update! February 2009. The ALC rejected the request to remove the Garden City Lands from the ALR! Nice work everyone!
Rob
Coquitlam, B.C.
Dear British Columbia Agricultural Land Reserve Commission and Provincial Government,
Globally, food security is becoming more and more important. If British Columbian's are to be able to grow their own food we will need to protect as much of our remaining farm land as possible.
As a British Columbia citizen, tax payer and voter I would like to ask you to please stop removing any more farm land from the ALR (including the Garden City Lands in Richmond).
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.
We need more quality productive agricultural land in order to maintain our self reliance of food as province's population increases. As climate change, droughts, increasing costs, contamination continue to occur and affect global food supplies, we need to be able to feed ourselves in BC.
I am a farm neighbor of land in the ALR, recently subdivided and declared non-farm use for a huge, private addiction treatment facility. We were not allowed opportunity for input into the ALC decision. I think the land commission should allow the input by the people impacted by non-farm and removal decisions. Municipal governments will say they are committed to farmland, but will switch allegiance at the drop of a hat for the almighty buck and a few jobs for the community. The provincial government must stop pandering to municipalities over such important land use decisions.
Stop the development of farmland. How are we suppose to feed our people, bring it from Mexico?? Look at Langley and all the good farmland being built on.
I think that over the centuries we have sold more and more land for questionable reasons (this time in the name of oil and gas). I think agreements such as the one made by ALR were put in place to protect food sources, not as window dressing to be negociated around when no one is looking. Michèle
food, water and shelter are the most important things a society needs to survive (and clean air). we absolutely need to keep our farm land as feeding ourselves is far more important than paving it over for more polluting vehicles. i predict he bc liberals will loose the upcoming election. i know i will vote ndp.(would vote green but unfortunately i don't think they'll win.
Climate Change demands a new paradigm. To survive we must have trees and land to grow food.
We must protect our ALR.
I think the removal of Farmland for Freeways is horrible.
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6:42 pm PST, Dec 23,
Brian LePas, Canada
I live in a rural area. Our ALR area is slowly being eroded and not being replaced. In May, my vote for the NDP will be a step in the right direction. |
We need our local agricultural space -- we need to shift away from importing produce from far away, and start consuming more locally -- so we can reduce greenhouse gasses and support a secure and sustainable local economy.
The ALR was created for a purpose and as everyone knows, British Columbia by its geography has limited land available for agriculture. Land does not go back into agriculture - all the movement is one way and particularly during an era of climate change we do not want to have to import our food from far away.
Please insist on preserving agricultural land for that purpose only as per the ALC legislation.
"The Agricultural Land Commission has given conditional approval to the loss of 90 hectares of farmland in Delta to allow the province's $1-billion South Fraser Perimeter Road to proceed." Stop the agricultural land grab in BC, Minister Kevin Falcon!
Consider the future food sources for our children and children's children. Build up not out.
Keep the farm in its totality and on its entire current footprint. The farm is too valuable an asset to move or reduce in size. The entire footprint should be farmed or used for agricultural/public outreach work. The farm could be greatly expanded as an outreach project with the VSB so that all school children in Vancouver and area have an opportunity to learn and practice farming techniquee
Hands off the ALR!
No politician should be making back-room deals . Everything should be open and legal for all the see and have knowledge of. Save B.C it's beautiful and has excellent wine and produce from this region.
Farming is not automatic. Save our fertile delta and rich soils for farming and selling to local markets. It is the way of the past and the future.
In the future, we will need all the local land we can save to grow our own local food.
The ALR was probably one of the most important pieces of legislation in our province for preserving agricultural land for the future. In these times of global economic troubles and increased fuel costs, it is more important than ever to preserve these lands.
Natural,gentle, generous and respectable soil.
B.C. only has 7% of its area suitable for agriculture. We will have lost our independence if we lose our agricultural land.
I agree but would like to know what percentage of applications are approved by the ALC each year on average?
MAN LIKES TO MESS WHERE HE'S NOT SUPPOSED TO
Maintaining the local production of food is not a matter of personal tastes or "quaint trendiness", it is a matter of national security. A country should never surrender its domestic food production to the "global market". An increasingly unstable geopolitical and economic climate demands that each country must maintain its agricultural production capacity. Surrendering viable BC agricultural (land) capacity to the pressures of urbanization would be extremely short-sighted. The ALC should be protecting our interests, not squandering them.
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