Public input sought on revitalization of Agricultural Land Reserve and Agriculture Land Commission

The province is seeking the best approaches to improving B.C.'s Agricultural Land Reserve and Commission and it's asking for public input.

Last summer, when B.C. Agriculture MinisterLana Popham was sworn in, she was chargedwith "revitalizing" the ALR and ALC.

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Monday, a nine-member advisory committee taskedby Popham to provide the government with advice and policy guidance, released an online survey and consultation paper on the revitalization of the ALR and ALC.

"We want to hear from farmers and ranchers. We want to hear from eaters. We want to hear from food security activists. We want to hear from local government. We want to hear from people who just generally care about the future of farming and food security in B.C.," said Popham.

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The paper and survey focus on 10 common themes, including: ALC independence, ALR resilience, residential uses, unauthorized uses, farm processing and sales, non-farm uses and resource extraction, food security and B.C.'s agricultural contribution.

The ALR is a 4.6 million hectare provincial zone, where agriculture is recognized as the primary use, and non-agricultural uses are restricted. The ALC is the administrative body that oversees it.

Pophamsays the survey will be open until the end of April, and, in the meantime, the committee willhost regional meetings to gather feedback from local farmers and ranchers.

She says she expects people to speak out about several hot button issues, such as the building of mega homes and increased assessmentson ALRland.

Following the consultation process, she says the committee willmake recommendations to the province on potential changes to the current legislative, regulatoryand administrative framework of the ALR and ALC,with an eye on revitalization and the preservation of agricultural land.

Pophamwouldn't confirm any potential legislative changesbut mentioned the need to make the ALRmore defensible, enhance ALCpowers to protect ALR landand reverse a 2014 move by the provincial Liberal government to divide the ALR into two zones from one.

"The former administration went through this process just a few years back and they made changes, and, in my view, the changes they made led to more erosion of the agricultural land reserve," said Popham.

A final report from the advisory committee will be provided to Pophambefore the fall of 2018.

She says any legislative changes are targeted for late 2018 or early 2019.