Stop the Land Grab in British Columbia
- van: Robert Janssen
- ontvanger: BC Agricultural Land Commission and the BC Government
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.
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