More than 2,300 British Columbians responded with their ideas on how the province can support the Agricultural Land Commission preserve farmland and encourage farming.
The province wrapped up almost three months of community consultation April 30 led by an independent committee made up of volunteers with diverse agricultural backgrounds and experiences. Former independent Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington was one of the appointed volunteers.
The committee heard from British Columbians at stakeholder meetings in nine communities as well as through written submissions and online consultation. It also heard from municipal governments.
According to the province, the input the committee received will help frame its recommendations that will be provided to Agriculture Minister Lana Popham this summer for her review and implementation.
The top three themes identified included:
- A defensible and defended ALR — identified by 1,203 British Columbians
- Food security and B.C.’s agricultural contribution — identified by 1,146 British Columbians
- Residential uses in the ALR — identified by 866 British Columbians.
The City of Delta provided its comments which called for, among other things, a desire for a more open, accessible and transparent ALC.
Councillors endorsed the recommendations last month.
“There are things that need to be looked at with a little bit of flexibility because if you are running a farm on Westham Island and there is no place to live, where do you go and how do you get there to work a farm?,” said Coun. Bruce McDonald, who chairs Delta’s agriculture committee.
“They don’t work 8 to 5 or 7 to 3, they work when they work and that can be all day, so there are some things that need to be more flexible. I’m hopeful this will be a positive set of changes.”
Residents from around B.C. participated in the consultation online, including more than 750 farmers, 115 agriculture specialists and more than 1,400 responses from the public. There were also 240 responses from people representing an agricultural industry or interest group.
South Coast residents completed 900 surveys, while submissions from Vancouver Island topped 800, with close to 200 from the Okanagan, and more than 100 from each of the North, Kootenay and Interior regions.
