MARCH 2018 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Budget boosts ag funding for


strategic initiatives


Three-year plan raises ministry budget to $93 million


by PETER MITHAM VICTORIA – The first budget


from the province’s NDP government hands the province’s agriculture ministry a $93.1 million budget for the year ahead, up from $85.2 million in the current fiscal year.


The headline item in the budget speech, however, was $29 million in funding for initiatives promised in last year’s election campaign. “With Budget 2018, we’re


investing $29 million over three years in BC’s agriculture, food and seafood sectors through Grow BC, Buy BC, and Feed BC,” finance minister Carole James announced February 20.


The spending averages $9.7 million in each of the next three years, though the actual increase in 2018 is $7.8 million.


Key initiatives benefitting


from the money include “supports for farmers, better local marketing efforts and groundwater protections” – specifically, greater protection of the agricultural land reserve and heightened brand recognition for BC food in both domestic and international markets. The scope of the funding


for her ministry pleases BC agriculture minister Lana Popham. She says the funding aims at supporting the many aspects of agriculture right across the province. “[It] takes a look at


agriculture as basically a provincial food system, and not so piecemeal as it’s been in the past,” she says. “[It] will lead right into what my mandate is.”


She specifically called out


the importance of the funding for revitalizing the 45- year-old Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) and initiatives that will swing into full gear later this year. A nine-member committee is currently gathering public input that will underpin a report with recommended actions. However, the commission


that oversees the ALR will see just $35,000 in additional money this year. Popham also looks forward


to provisions in the budget that will see the healthcare system source more food from local producers and processors, while supporting marketing both domestically and abroad. BC Agriculture Council


chair Stan Vander Waal said the budget showed that government had heard farmers’ calls for funding in several key areas. Besides funding for


GrowBC, FeedBC and BuyBC, the BC Agriculture Council highlighted Victoria’s intention to tweak tax policies to ensure properties within the Agricultural Land Reserve are used for farming rather than residential property development. The measures will be independent of changes to the land commission itself, closing loopholes in how property taxes are assessed. The removal of loopholes will complement changes to the tax on foreign purchases of residential real estate originally implemented by the BC Liberals in August 2016. The new tax will rise to 20% and apply to residential property purchases in the Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Capital, Nanaimo and


While Canadian farmers were encouraged to reach out to consumers on February 13 for Agriculture Day, the Agriculture More Than Ever team was celebrating early during the Pacific Agriculture Show in Abbotsford, January 27. From left to right, Agriculture More Than Ever manager Debbie Bailey, Kellie Hynek, Narinder Atwal and Dean Barton from Farm Credit Canada. CATHY GLOVER PHOTO


Central Okanagan regional districts. It will complement a speculators’ tax in these same areas, targeting property owners who don’t pay income tax in BC. (Critics note that the new tax policy could sting part-time residents of the province who opt to file taxes elsewhere.)


The council also noted


plans to continue the carbon tax rebate program for greenhouses and marked fuel while increasing the carbon tax by $5 a tonne beginning in June. “We were very clear about the concerns and challenges we face as an industry, such as climate change, taxation, land use policies and overall


sustainability,” Vander Waal said in a statement circulated to media. “We look forward to working with government to expand on the details referenced in the budget – specifically with regards to taxation, the land use inventory, closing the loopholes on agricultural land and building the BC brand.”


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