18 RDBN ag committee turns one
BURNS LAKE – The Regional District of Bulkley Nechako agriculture committee celebrates its first birthday on February 11. Committee chair Mark Parker says the committee was created in response to the downturn in the commodities market. “We've lost a couple of mines and sawmills in the area. As a board, we realized that we really need to promote agriculture and make sure that we get it to the forefront because it is one sector that's going to continue to be strong in this downturn.”
The main objective of the committee is to promote, advance and lobby for agriculture. “It has taken a little while to see where we want to go and get some direction. The main difficulty that we had was defining our role as a committee and as individual directors. We had to ask ourselves where we fit in and what are our roles and our responsibilities.”
To this end, the committee hosted an
agricultural forum in November and invited representatives from the BC Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural Land Commission, the University of Northern BC, the farmers market associations and other local groups, including beekeepers and dairymen. The agencies each gave a presentation on their mandates and talked about how they might work together. “There were 44 participants and it was, by far, the most beneficial thing we have done yet.”
Participating in the federal Senate review of the acquisition of farmland is one of their goals for 2017.
“We've submitted our issues and stated our case to be invited to Ottawa to present our issues and explain what we're facing here in the north region.”
The group will also be looking at climate change issues, exploring how to get updated climate mapping and what could be grown in the region in the future.
GMOs of the story,” he says.
Given that GE products are legal, he questioned whether the support of Smithers would even make a difference. “It doesn't seem like we could have much of an effect with this kind of statement,” he says. “I couldn't see that it would change anything. The bottom line is that GMOs are legal and I think if people really want to effect change, then they really need to lobby the appropriate group and, in this case, it is not the town of Smithers. The appropriate group in this case is the federal government.”
Far from over
Though no new resolutions or bylaws have been passed, the discussion in the Bulkley Valley is far from over.
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Fisher is concerned about the tone of the discussion in the community and what this means for residents. “What the directors are really concerned about are the relationships within the agriculture community and the community at large as well,” he says, hoping there will be an opportunity for people to understand why people use GE products, as well as an opportunity for the people who use them to understand the impact of GE crops and herbicide use on the community at large. Several points of view and concerns ranging from organic certification, the health of bees, health of people, and the impacts on the environment exist. “Those are all valid
concerns so the challenge is how to get people talking respectfully and listening to one another and really coming up with a middle ground. I'm not sure at this point if there's a one-side-or- the-other solution,” says Fisher. “For me, it’s a process of dialogue and having people understand different choices that farmers who work really hard make in order to make a living, at the same time realizing that all our activities impact other people.”
Constructive dialogue
Keeping the dialogue constructive is Fisher’s goal and something he hopes the regional district’s new agriculture committee will address.
“Part of the problem with the 2013 resolution is that it didn't involve the agriculture community or the community at large. It seemed like it was a board decision,” he says. Though the agriculture committee was not created specifically to address the GE crop issue, he hopes involving the agricultural community will provide opportunities for greater understanding. “The [agriculture]
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committee hopes to expand on [the board’s] pool of resources of people they can draw on to make decisions.” Mark Parker chairs the committee and Fisher is optimistic that he’ll ensure a balanced look at local agriculture so directors will gain a better understanding of the region’s agricultural issues. “What is important for me and for the agriculture committee is that we are engaging with the community about agriculture, its importance and its impacts,” says Fisher.
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