The Editor, Re: "'Soil cops' need sustainable funding," News, July 26. Hats off to Thomas Loo for having the courage to speak up about failures in governing the protection of farmland.
I know in conversation with Loo during the election that he's experienced first hand and up close the pain of a system in crisis and he is clearly passionate about what he believes is needed to improve it.
As only one of two enforcement officers for the entire province, we should all listen and learn from him to build a better future. We should also give kudos to FarmWatch for bringing this important issue to the public's attention and, through personal sacrifice of it's volunteers, continue to highlight to British Columbian's what is happening to valuable farmland in our communities and the apparent dis-interest from our MLAs.
As I said during the election, we all know the difference between right and wrong and dumping unregulated fill, often loaded with construction materials, many of which contain known toxins on farmland, regardless if it's in the ALR or not is simply wrong and should be stopped. Credit should be given to the City of Richmond for taking steps in the right direction on this. Is there room for improvement? Likely. Maybe instead of some public feedback on a pre-determined approach it's time for a real community forum discussion where all interests and views could be discussed and heard.
Maybe then our MLA's will bring this issue to the provincial level where appropriate penalties can be formulated and local governments can be properly empowered and funded to deal with it. The province took leadership in dealing with scrap metal dealers and it's time to take a similar stance against those intentionally damaging our most valuable farmland entrusted to us for future generations. It's our collective responsibility to force our political leaders to govern protection of our farmland before it is too late.
Jerome Dickey
Richmond
