2 ALC panels to be replaced by single committee
farmland and encourage farming and ranching in the Agricultural Land Reserve,” Popham told the legislature as she introduced the bill. Bill 15 proposes five key
changes, the primary one being elimination of the existing executive committee and six regional panels. They’ll be replaced by a single committee with membership from each of the commission’s six administrative regions. The move is touted as
increasing the commission’s independence. When the BC Liberals introduced the regional panels, critics said they would subject applications to local interference. The fears were revived in the interim report of the nine-member committee struck last year to recommend ways to revitalize the ALC and ALR, which said
the panels are not only costly but “[make] what should be provincial-scale values and decision-making vulnerable to local perspectives and influence.” This didn’t sit well with BC Liberal agriculture critic Ian Paton, a former Delta councillor who represents Delta South in the legislature. “Doing away with these panels would undermine local decision-making and knowledge of the land. It could mean that a commissioner on the Lower Mainland ends up making decisions for the rest of the province without knowing the unique conditions and circumstances of each region,” Paton said at the time. Yet panels aren’t disappearing entirely. The new legislation enables the commission’s chair to strike panels on an as-needed basis to address specific applications.
The bill also charges the commission to prioritize “the protection and enhancement of the size, integrity and
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continuity of the land base” in considering any application. The change reflects concerns about the high parcelization of ALR properties that makes them vulnerable to residential development and exclusion, particularly in the Lower Mainland. The bill says exclusion applications must now come from local governments, First Nations or the province in order to limit speculation. Right now, landowners submit applications with the endorsement of local government. Without government endorsement, the applications have no chance. Yet local governments themselves can have a hard time excluding properties, as the experience of Abbotsford with respect to properties in the Bradner area shows. It halted all initiatives on its farm properties last year pending the outcome of the advisory panel’s work. The move to limit
exclusions to governments angers MLAs such as Donna Barnett, who believes the move infringes on the rights of landowners. Rather than making application directly to the land commission, they’re now required to delegate matters to government. The bill will also impact
landowners by threatening to fine property owners who do not provide information the ALC requests. The specific penalties will be established by regulation. Bill 15 was set for second reading on March 25. The
discussion will likely see the airing of the many concerns MLAs have voiced in the media and heard from
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • APRIL 2019 nfrom page 1
constituents. Discussions will also take place during committee hearings on the bill.
Still waiting
Bill 15 comes in advance of the final recommendations of the advisory panel Popham struck last year. Due by the end of December, it has not yet been made public. “Staff are continuing to review the independent committee’s recommendations,” a statement from the ministry said. “The BC government has committed to making the final report public once the review process is complete.” Jennifer Dyson, who led the committee prior to succeeding Frank Leonard as chair of the ALC, told Country Life in BC last fall that she was excited to see the committee’s report, which she felt provided good direction for the commission’s future. The report’s recommendations were set to guide amendments to legislation and other changes, but during committee hearings on Bill 52 last fall, Delta South MLA Ian Paton challenged Popham over a briefing that indicated the six regional panels will be disbanded. Popham was on the record both in this paper and with
MLAs as saying that hadn’t been determined. “We may do that in future legislation,” Popham said of changes to the panels. “What I can assure the member is that there will always be regional representation, whether we have a provincial panel or a regional panel system.” While the latest piece of legislation makes good on
that promise, it also indicates that there’s more to come than meets the eye in Victoria.
—Peter Mitham
DEADLINE extended from pg 1 An annual rent will be
fail to recharge, access would be cut off, beginning with the most recently licensed wells. “The application intake has
been lower than expected and for many groundwater users, recognizing the value of a licence to secure their water rights represents a significant change,” the ministry said in a memo to stakeholders on February 19.
charged groundwater users, too, attaching a cost to a resource many have taken for granted. Users who register and licence their wells must pay for water drawn since February 29, 2016. The province has collected $680,000 in existing use groundwater rentals over the past three years.
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