8 MINISTER thrives on getting work done
from less-regulated jurisdictions. Meanwhile, the regulations in BC
mount. Whether around wages, farm labour, animal welfare, farmland protections, water management or the new Agricultural Waste Control Regulation, farmers have a full-time job keeping abreast of regulations on top of the business of growing food. While the province wants to grow
production, that’s not always how farmers experience it. “There’s a perception that this
government is not instilling a lot of confidence in business investment,” Ens says. “They see some really exciting things that could happen, but they see a lot of challenges [and] they’re not convinced that this government is on their side.” Ens quickly adds that Popham “is
very much on industry’s side,” noting that the challenges are coming from beyond her ministry. “We definitely don’t want to blame
her for some of these challenges,” he says. Popham cherishes her close
working relationship with the ministries of health and rural development but the environment and labour ministries are leading the charge on water management, wages and farm worker protection. Ens expresses particular concern about the new agricultural waste regulation, widely expected to take effect this spring. “We want to encourage good
stewardship – that’s good for all of us. But how do we do that in a way that
Lana Popham says agriculture is “pretty fun.” BCMA PHOTO
doesn’t put farms out of business?” he asks. “Are we considering the economic factors that all these changes are going to have?” Dairy producers have felt themselves in the crosshairs of the new regulation, and are also grappling with the loss of market opportunities thanks to federal trade deals. Regulatory costs and a smaller market are hardly a recipe to grow BC in their books.
“Government is able to play a role in supporting,” says Popham, with winsome optimism. She says consumers need to be told about the high quality of BC milk, and encouraged to support local producers who – on the grocery store shelf – are largely anonymous, with most milk lacking even the Dairy Farmers of Canada logo. “Supply management hasn’t really needed a provincial marketing
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JANUARY 2019 nfrom page 7
program before,” she says. “Consumers … want to support that, but there’s absolutely no way when they walk into a shelf of milk of figuring out what’s BC milk.” She’s wants a BuyBC logo on milk to boost awareness and connect with consumer concerns. Similarly, she points to the dairy
sector to illustrate how industry is onside with some regulations. While poultry groups have
expressed concern at plans to entrench industry codes of practice in animal welfare legislation, Popham says dairy is on board because farmers know it’s what consumers want. “Five years ago, there was
resistance. Now they understand that consumers are looking for that assurance,” she says. “Maybe they’re not super-enthusiastic, but they certainly have embraced it and they’re willing to work with it.” Popham is also clear that she wants
to keep working with farmers. “I’ve got a lot more to accomplish
in my ministry,” she says. “I thrive on getting stuff done so when we get one thing done, I just move on to the next.”
Although not a big fan of flying,
she makes an effort to visit rural BC as often as possible, keeping her ear to the ground for what she can do next. “I get to sit down with people one-
on-one often, and that inspires me,” she says. “Agriculture’s pretty fun that way. You can make changes that help people in a big way.”
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