BC’s Agricultural Land Reserve
Dec 10th, 2013 by oliviaszostek
The Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) was created in BC in the year 1973, with the goals of protecting important, rich agricultural land from development pressures of the future. It is composed of 4.7 million hectares of BC’s land, and is governed by the province’s Agricultural Land Commission (ALC), which operates independent from provincial government. This land is comprised of some of the richest soils, that evolve only after millions of years – constituting them as a non-renewable resource.
In November of 2013, debates began about potential changes to the governance of the ALR, and the push to move the ALC to be a part of the Ministry of Agriculture would signify the end of its autonomy from centralized government. Government pressures are suggesting that modernizations of the ALR’s policies and protocols are needed to ensure economic expansion of the oil and gas industry, along with the call to make room for a growing population.
Opinions can be seen across articles that some of the ALR’s land is not suitable for strong agriculture production, and much of valuable developable land is locked in and untouchable due to ALC laws. Pushes for the ALC to be moved to a different jurisdiction has been argued to reflect the increasing focus of BC’s government on the natural oil and gas industry. Backlash in response to this includes points that the ALR accounts for a huge amount of land available for food production that would have otherwise been developed, and as previously discussed, includes important soil resources that are not easily recovered or discovered.
In my opinion, the ALR stands for the hope of food security within BC, and it is dangerous to move the decision making power to volatile government powers, usually with hidden agendas focused on GDP and voting strategies. Take for example, the Peace River Regional District. This area encompasses approximately 25% of the ALR, and 50% of BC’s food production. This area has been under discussion by government, and proposed to be sectioned off from the rest of the ALR, and governed by the governments Oil and Gas Commission. Further research indicates increased exploration in BC’s northern areas, and makes me wary of hidden motives and agendas, and lack of foresight to BC’s future food production.
My ending comment for this topic, is a call to local people to do our part. Educating ourselves from all angles on these topics is the first step in becoming a part of the conversation. The views I presented here is just a stepping stone to discovering all the different stakeholders present at the table of discussion. Once educated, it is our duty to make our opinions heard, and make change before irreversible damage has been done.
Sources:
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Opinion+Farmland+abundant+need+protect/9247355/story.html
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Battle+heats+future+Agricultural+Land+Reserve/9173484/story.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/sacrosanct-agricultural-land-commission-eyed-for-breakup/article15306864/
http://prrd.bc.ca/services/emergency/oil_and_gas/index.php
http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Geoscience/PublicationsCatalogue/OilGas/OGReports/Documents/2008/OG_Report2008-1.pdf
Gail Szostek, Environmental Technician of Maple Ridge, BC