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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • OCTOBER 2017


Kootenay MP weighs in on agriculture, dams and marijuana Producers deserve share of new provincial initiatives


by TAMARA LEIGH CRANBROOK – Wayne


Stetski has a bee in his bonnet for agriculture. The NDP Member of Parliament for Kootenay-Columbia has been active in conservation issues and local politics since retiring from his work with the BC Ministry of Environment in 2009. “When I became a Member


of Parliament, I decided I would have three priorities as an MP – the environment, small business and agriculture and local food,” says Stetski. Following his retirement


from the provincial government, Stetski became manager of the East Kootenay Conservation program. His role included co-ordinating the purchase of private land and working with farmers and ranchers to collaborate on conservation projects. “I found there was a lot of


interest among farmers and ranchers in doing ‘the right thing,’” says Stetski. “We hosted a conference on the future of agriculture in the East Kootenays and through that, I came to believe that the well-run ranch or farm contributes significantly to conservation in general. The two complement each other.” He ran for mayor of


Cranbrook in 2011, and during his term visited


Cranbrook’s sister city of Wonju, China. What impressed him most was an agricultural technology centre that grew crops to see what would grow successfully in their climate, provided biological products to farmers, and did soil testing for 5,000 local land owners per year.


“I came away really excited


and really depressed,” says Stetski. “You can see where governments can go if they really put a priority on agriculture and food production.”


Treaty work


It was shortly after his visit to China that Stetski joined a committee to look at the upcoming renewal of the Columbia River Treaty. One of the initiatives that resulted from the treaty is the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, which invests about $4 million per year into fish and wildlife conservation efforts. It sparked an idea for Stetski. “Imagine what the


Kootenays could look like if $4 million per year was being put into agriculture,” he says. “They had nothing in there for agriculture so I started lobbying, and they now have an agriculture stream.” His experience in the


Columbia River valley informs his perspective on the Peace River valley, where the construction of the Site C dam hangs in the political balance. A strong proponent of protecting agricultural land, he cautions against the project.


“Site C from an agricultural


perspective is absolutely the wrong thing to be doing. The whole project there is 50- year-old thinking,” says Stetski. “It parallels with the Columbia River Treaty and there are long memories of the people who were impacted whose lives changed forever.” “Agriculture has never been


recognized or compensated for the loss the same way as other sectors here,” he adds.


Pot pie Another major agricultural


issue for the Kootenay- Columbia riding is the legalization of recreational marijuana. In a region where illegal grow-ops are significant contributors to the local economy, concern runs high around who will be licensed to grow when the federal framework rolls out next year. “As an MP, whether or not I


agree with the legalization of marijuana, my role is to try and ensure that the Kootenays get some of the benefits of legalization and don’t just have to deal with the negative side of it,” says Stetski. Growers in his riding have


been organizing quickly to make sure that their voices are heard. Todd Veri started farming in the Kootenays two years ago and is now leading the effort to establish the Kootenay Outdoor Producer Co-op, a farm and worker co-op to support the outdoor cultivation of marijuana in the region. “Growing marijuana has been supporting our economy for decades; we can’t afford to lose that in our economy,” says Veri. “We have a thriving co-op culture in the


Lending a hand, MP Wayne Stetski, right, with Seamus Damstrom in the Cranbrook Public Produce Garden. SUBMITTED PHOTO


Kootenays – the grocery store, the radio station, credit unions – they are very popular. I see an opportunity for a co-op that focuses on growing outdoor weed on underutilized farms in the Kootenays.”


The vision is for the co-op to hold the growing license, with plants grown on member farms throughout the region. Production and processing functions will be carried out at a centralized secure facility. The co-op will provide trained workers, clones for planting, and agricultural inputs. Farmers will provide land, irrigation and fencing.


The idea has tremendous local traction. A townhall to discuss the idea this summer drew close to 120 people from throughout the region. They currently have a list of


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150 people interested in the co-op, representing 35 communities in the region.


Lots of interest “We already have 60-70


investors on our list, and 60 people who want us to grow on their property. The whole purpose of the townhall was to put a board together so we could move forward with our license applications, and there were so many people interested that I had to take resumes,” says Veri who is thrilled with the interest and momentum behind the idea. With a board in place, the


group is moving forward with incorporating the co-op and putting the pieces in place to submit their application for a growing license. They are also pushing hard with legislators to make sure that there is room in the new regulations for their business model. “We’re coming at this from an economic development point of view,” says Veri. “We’re doing something new and it’s fully reliant on government. All we want is to make sure the regulations allow for our business model.”


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