search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
JUNE 2018 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


New chair appointed to land commission While he’s disappointed, Frank Leonard isn’t surprised his term wasn’t renewed


by PETER MITHAM


VICTORIA – The outgoing chair of the Agricultural Land Commission believes it’s in good hands as the province prepares to receive recommendations for its revitalization. The province appointed


Frank Leonard chair of the commission in 2015 following the abrupt termination of Richard Bullock. Leonard’s completed his three-year term and his appointment was not renewed. “I enjoyed it. I’m grateful to


have served in that role, and I’m certainly going to miss it,” Leonard told Country Life in BC. “I think I’m the only one who kept telling people I was not likely to be reappointed. … It wasn’t so much the job I was doing, it’s just the flavour I’ve had in my past life around politics. So I get it, I was prepared for it, though I’m disappointed to leave.” Leonard served as mayor of Saanich from 1996 to 2014, and previously worked in his family’s tire business. His career led to several involvements with municipal government organizations. Leonard has now been


replaced by Jennifer Dyson, a Vancouver Island water buffalo farmer who was most recently chair of the nine- member panel charged with gathering public feedback and reviewing options for revitalizing the Agricultural Land Reserve. Dyson’s appointment sends a clear signal that the province is keen to implement recommendations of the panel, which will draft its report under the leadership of vice-chair Vicki Huntington. Leonard believes he’s


leaving the commission in good hands. Key staff, including CEO Kim Grout, remain in place and the commission continues to enjoy the larger budget granted it under former agriculture minister Norm Letnick. “The biggest difference I made was in changing the management and in managing the change. I’ve had people, even on social media, comment that they thought that the land use decisions I made were appropriate and consistent with the legislation,” he said, acknowledging that social media can make reputations as well as break them. “People didn’t see a difference in the land use decisions. … Applications that were taking more than two years when I arrived [were] being done in 90 working days when I left. People were still getting ‘yes’


or ‘no’ as appropriate [but] they were getting the answer a lot sooner.”


When he was appointed,


Leonard said the best way to protect the ALR was to ensure that the farms within it were financially viable. This is in sync with the arguments BC agriculture minister Lana Popham has put forward, and the thrust of several


comments made during both formal and informal discussions regarding the future of the ALR during the recent consultation, which ended April 30. However, Leonard worries at the exact shape revitalization may take, given the political differences between the current government and that of the BC Liberals. “There’s some nostalgia for the ALR prior to the Liberals bringing in legislation that changed it,” he says “I’m hoping ‘revitalization’ isn’t a cover word for ‘back to the future.’”


While the two-zone


structure introduced in 2014 has been “less than successful,” Leonard says regional panels that allow landowners to make a case to local commissioners are important. “I wouldn’t fight very hard


to keep the zones but the panels, I think, have been very successful,” he says. “Doing site visits, having face-to-face


7


Frank Leonard has time to reflect on his three-year term as chair of the Agricultural Land Commission following the appointment of Jennifer Dyson to the position last month. CHAD HIPOLITO PHOTO


contact with applicants, have just given us so much more credibility with applicants and with stakeholders, rather than having people meet in Burnaby once a month and make decisions. It’s much more respectful to applicants to have local people on their property listening to them and letting them tell their story.” Bullock, for his part,


continues to advocate for farmland protection. Shortly after his dismissal in May 2015, just seven months before the end of his five-year term, he gave a presentation to the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) in Richmond that framed his termination as politically motivated.


BC NDP agriculture critic


Lana Popham told Country Life in BC at the time she agreed, calling Bullock’s termination, “a completely incompetent decision.”


“He has always championed


agriculture, and he knows how important it’s going to be in our future,” she said. “That is


See ALC on next page o


NEXT-LEVEL, HIGH-DENISITY BALING


VB 3100 SERIES VARIABLE CHAMBER ROUND BALERS


 • Fast, consistent bale starting in diverse conditions  • Simple, heavy-duty driveline and chains for reliability


Integral Rotor


Matsqui Ag-Repair Abbotsford, BC 604-826-3281


Produces 4x5 and 4x6 bales • Cutting and non-cutting models


Noble Tractor & Equipment Armstrong, BC 250-546-3141


Noble Tractor & Equipment Kamloops, BC 250-851-3101


Visit your local KUHN Knight Dealer today! INVEST IN QUALITY® KuhnNorthAmerica.com


Huber Farm Equipment Prince George, BC 250-560-5431


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48