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Country Life in BC 36 Dale Road Enderby, BC V0E 1V4


Vol. 105 No.5


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Governance Ag council’s lobbying efforts produce results Hothouse Greenhouse growers see rebound in acreage Cattlemen Range use permits under greater scrutiny


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Caribou recovery plan has ranchers


worried Plans set a precedent for conservation efforts


by TOM WALKER KAMLOOPS –The province


has drafted two agreements to conserve the southern mountain caribou, and ranchers are among the groups weighing in as part of a public consultation that runs until May 31. The agreements include one with the federal government outlining how it will work with the province to conserve the caribou, which


See STRATEGY on next page o Growing more with less water Opposition slams ALC bill by PETER MITHAM


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VICTORIA – The fight over Bill 15 – the Agricultural Land Commission Amendment Act – continued in April, with opposition MLAs successfully stalling second reading of the bill until after the Easter holiday.


The bill proposes several changes to the governance of the land commission, among the most controversial being the elimination of the six regional panels that have decentralized decision- making and seen the


commission working more closely with landowners. The new model centralizes decision-making in Burnaby, and requires that exclusion applications come from municipalities rather than landowners.


But in defining


municipalities as the only legal applicants, the bill defined them – and not the landowner – as persons for such purposes. Originally set for second


reading the week of March 25, the bill became a hot potato for the government as the


opposition made hay of the clause.


During a rally in Surrey on


March 24 that attracted about 200 landowners from the Lower Mainland, BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson and eight caucus members including Abbotsford West MLA Mike de Jong and agriculture critic Ian Paton of Delta South urged farmers to oppose being barred from applying directly to the land commission. “You have a fundamental


See MINISTER next page o The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 MAY 2019 | Vol. 105 No. 5


WHAT ON EARTH? Former Canadian plowing champion Bill Higginson of Sardis is clearly alarmed at what he sees when he inspects his plowing during the BC plowing championships in Chilliwack. See more plowing match photos on pages 40-41. SEAN HITREC PHOTO


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