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Bullock expects further erosion of land reserve


Fired ALC chair doesn’t believe Victoria is acting in best interest of farming; Letnick claims otherwise.


By Judie Steeves


However, Kelowna grower Richard Bullock has been fired, and says he believes the 40-year-old Agricultural Land Reserve “is in peril.” After five years as chair of the Agricultural Land Commission, with six months left to go in his current term, the long-time orchardist and supporter of the ALR was dismissed summarily in mid-May.


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“There’s unrelenting pressure on the ALC,” he warns.


With changes to the legislation governing the ALC (Bill 24) and creation of two zones in the province where different criteria are in effect, Bullock says the changes to criteria in zone two (the Kootenays and northern part of the province) have weakened the land reserve.


He feels it’s inevitable that in due course zone one (the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and Okanagan) will be treated the same, and he is not impressed.


“Just because you own farmland doesn’t mean you should be appearing at the ALC as soon as you purchase it, with an application for non-farm use of the property,”he comments. Bullock says he fears the new regulations will move it in that direction, and adds: “Our job — I thought — was to encourage farming and farmland.”


ormally, being an orchardist means you can’t get fired—with or without cause.


However, if the government of the day decides that’s not what it wants, they can make a change, he says.


Bullock objected to Bill 24 and says, “It was a big deal. It’s based on the philosophy that anyone who buys farmland can do as they wish on it.


“Once you start picking away at (the ALR), it’s hard to stop the bleeding.


“We let the powers that be know that some of what they were doing was not in the best interests of farming; such as the changes to zone two. We believed it was important to put farmers first.”


JUDIE STEEVES


Bullock maintains that because he didn’t agree with the direction in which the government was taking the ALR, the government got rid of him.


Richard Bullock says changes to Agricultural Land Reserve legislation are based on the philosophy that anyone who buys farmland can do as they wish on it.


the land commission, who can then hire the new CEO and become a part-time chair.


Replacing Bullock is Frank Leonard, a former mayor of Saanich who has served in civic politics since 1986 but was defeated last year in a bid for re-election. He managed three tire stores before that. Leonard has been quoted as saying farms must be financially viable in order to preserve farmland.


Leonard took on his new duties as chair of the ALC immediately. He will hold combined duties as board chair and CEO for a period of six months while he leads the search for a new CEO of the commission. Bullock had also served both roles.


Agriculture minister Norm Letnick, who made the recommendation to cabinet to replace Bullock with Leonard, says the latter had applied for a post as CEO of the ALC, but “We thought he would make a better fit as chair with all his leadership experience.”


With the new regulations tied to Bill 24 scheduled to be announced in the coming months, and a new


accountability framework for the chairs of both the ALC and the Farm Industry Review Board, Letnick said this seemed like the right time to have a new chair of


Letnick said the ALC’s top priority is still to protect farmland.


Bullock says he is proud of what’s been achieved with the ALC during his tenure; of the commissioners and staff; and efforts to bring the organization into the 21st century.


Records have been digitized and the new system will allow anyone to look at all the decisions of the past 40 years. As well, boundary reviews continue around the province and work got caught up. During his tenure, Bullock travelled around the province meeting with municipalities and regional districts and getting them to understand that agriculture should be considered first, not last, in planning.


“For many of them, it was the first time they’d seen anyone from the ALC in 40 years.”


Bullock admits the job took a lot of his time and he’s now able to do a bit of fishing and spend more time with the grandchildren.


He says he’s “humbled by the number of people sending him good wishes and showing their support for the ALC.”


British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Summer 2015 13


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