Bill 15 takes away landowners’ rights
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WHILE IT’S IMPORTANT to protect valuable farmland, the BC NDP government’s proposed changes to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) have taken things way too far. Bill 15, the ALC Amendment Act, will strip away the fundamental rights of landowners in this province— effectively giving the NDP total control of agricultural land.
If this bill is passed, firstly private property owners will no longer have the right to petition the ALC for removal of land from the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). Only a local government or First Nations government will be able to apply for changes.
Secondly, property owners will no longer be asked for their consent when the commission wants to exclude their land from the ALR. This leaves them in a perilous situation, because the commission at any time can decide to remove their property from the ALR.
These moves are appalling and undemocratic — not only because it takes away a landowner’s right to apply for adjustments, but because the NDP is basically assuming that anyone who purchases or owns land in the ALR is a speculator just waiting to cash out. This government is saying B.C. farmers and ranchers can’t be trusted, and therefore, it knows best. It makes you wonder which industry or group of people this government will target next.
Meantime, Bill 15 would also eliminate the ALC’s six regional panels, which will ignore the unique needs of rural British Columbia. Our province has a number of diverse agricultural regions, and shutting down these panels ignores the knowledge and expertise of farmers and ranchers in those areas. Instead, power will be concentrated in Victoria. This NDP government is disregarding the voices of those who actually own and work the land, because it thinks it knows better.
What’s more, those regional panels were part of a series of reforms brought in by our former BC Liberal government to reduce red tape and relieve a massive backlog of applications. Moving back to a single commission, where the chair has total authority over who makes decisions on an application, may undo that work — and just creates more uncertainty for B.C. farm owners, ranchers and processors.
The changes proposed in Bill 15 follow another set of reforms in the government’s Bill 52, which just came into effect at the end of February. That bill removed ‘zone 2’ from the ALR, taking away farmers’ flexibility to set up small side businesses on land unsuitable for farming— particularly in parts of the province with limited production periods due to climate, soil and other factors. This move may put their livelihoods at risk. Our Opposition team believes a ‘one size fits all’ approach to farmers, ranchers and processers simply doesn’t work, when you consider the unique conditions of B.C.’s diverse regions and the wide variety of goods produced.
The hard-working people in our agriculture industry supply B.C. and the world with delicious, nutritious products and contribute so much to our provincial economy. Instead of listening to their needs and helping them to grow their business, the government is diminishing their voices and taking away their rights. It’s disturbing, and we can only hope the NDP isn’t setting its sights on doing the same to other industries in British Columbia.
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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.
