MAY 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC Foundation invests millions in agriculture projects


by DAVID SCHMIDT ABBOTSFORD – After 20


years, the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC is still growing. Formed by industry in 1996 to distribute federal-provincial CARD (Canadian Agriculture and Rural Development) funding, IAF long since expanded its role to provide a conduit for a wide variety of provincial and


federal funding programs for agriculture and seafood. “Our project partners clearly understand the impact IAF has had and the feedback from our clients remains overwhelmingly positive,” executive director Peter Donkers told the IAF annual meeting in Abbotsford on April 12. IAF wrote out over 800 cheques totaling about $8.3


million last year. It took in over $9.4 million in revenue and committed almost $10 million to new projects, including $3.2 million to 95 Buy Local projects, one of the newest programs it’s delivering. “We have close to 1,000 clients and 1,400 projects,” Donkers said, noting Buy Local, in particular, is having very positive results with over


Agriplex gathers momentum in Comox by TAMARA LEIGH


COMOX – The proposal to build a new Agriplex in the Comox Valley got a boost in April when the Liberal party platform came out with a $5 million campaign promise to back the project. There’s a long way to go before anyone is going to have to write a cheque, however. The Comox Valley Farmers’


Institute and Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds (CVEx) have put forward a proposal for a new “Agriplex” venue to be built on the Comox Valley Fairgrounds. “We’ve been working on


this for about a year and a half after identifying the need for a facility in the Comox Valley that was big enough to host events like the Islands Agriculture Show and larger events,” says Ben Vanderhorst, president of the Comox Valley Farmers’ Institute. The proposal includes two adjoining buildings – an exhibition space and a large indoor arena – that can be used to host events from farmers’ markets to conferences and sporting events. The two organizations had


originally developed separate plans. CVEx has spent the last four years putting together plans for a 12,000 square-foot Agricultural Awareness Centre with a commercial kitchen and diagnostic lab to develop and test new product. The Comox Valley Farmers’ Institute proposed a larger multi-use facility for up to 5,000 people. The two groups were encouraged to bring their plans together by the CVRD and Comox Valley MLA Don McRae. A $5-million Liberal Party promise followed. The new plan incorporates


the features of both buildings, including the event space and stage, meeting spaces, offices, administration space, and a commercial kitchen. In early April, the regional


district voted in favour of a new master plan for the Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds that includes a large multi-use event centre. Two


challenges remain – the building site is within the Agricultural Land Reserve and the 200-year floodplain. “We not asking for the land


to be excluded; we’re just asking for permission to put the facility on the exhibition grounds, which happen to be on ALR land,” says Vanderhorst.


Despite early support from


the regional district, municipal governments and a long list of community groups, there is resistance brewing from people in the community who question the need for such a large facility, and who are unhappy with the choice to build on land in the Agriculture Land Reserve. It’s not just the footprint of the building itself but also the resulting need for parking and road improvements in the area that concerns people. “There’s no need to build


something so we can host the Islands Ag Show once every five or six years,” says Arzeena Hamir, a Courtenay-area farmer who questions the benefit of the Agriplex to agriculture. “My biggest concern is that there’s no business plan. We haven’t seen any number of the cost or how it will be managed and run.”


Estimates for construction


start at $11.5 million and will likely increase as the design details are worked out, and costs of site preparation are worked in.


90% of clients reporting increasing consumer demand. IAF is guided by 12


directors appointed by industry. Last year, directors held 12 meetings, adjudicating over 65 funding applications and reviewing 315 applications. That involves a lot of meeting and preparation time. “Directors spent an average 135 hours on IAF business while executive members each spent about 260 hours,” chair Ken Bates reported.


End of term


Five of the six directors whose terms were up were reappointed for a second term. They are Len Bouwman (dairy), Jack DeWit (other livestock), Dennis Lapierre (community agriculture), Don Low (tree fruits and grapes) and Bert Miles (greenhouse, floriculture and nursery). Replacing Bar Hayre (post farm gate) is former RBC banker Glenda Gesy of Kamloops. Dave Zehnder of Invermere was appointed to fill the final year of the beef cattle position after Ed Salle


retired.


Much of IAF’s funding, including over half the money it took in this year, comes from the five-year federal- provincial agriculture agreements. With Growing Forward 2 coming to an end next March, Donkers made an impassioned defence of IAF’s record and a plea for the federal and provincial governments to continue to use it as a delivery agent for Growing Forward 3 funding. While “competitors will be


angling” to do program delivery, Donkers called it “important decision-making and program delivery remain in industry hands. “With IAF you get a proven


delivery model and extensive knowledge and experience, he stated, insisting “we do an excellent job of working with funding partners and clients.” To fortify their position, IAF and the BC Agriculture Council are forming a committee of two IAF and two BCAC directors to do a “360° review” of IAF and rewrite its bylaws to conform to the new Societies Act.


GROW HEFTY HERDS


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