MAY 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Ag council’s lobbying efforts


produce results BCAC championed one ALR zone, groundwater extension


by DAVID SCHMIDT


ABBOTSFORD – Agriculture needs a collaborative voice and the BC Agriculture Council is that voice, BCAC chair Stan Vander Waal, told members at their annual meeting in Abbotsford, April 11. BCAC is a registered


lobbyist in Victoria and executive director Reg Ens called lobbying government “our fundamental reason for being. The key is to determine which issues to lobby on.” Although it talks to


government throughout the year, its efforts come to a head on Ag Day. The 2018 Ag Day was held last November and focused on land use, labour and demonstrating that agriculture is doing the right things, Vander Waal said. “In 2018, we set a new


record by securing 12 ministers and scheduled over 40 meetings,” he reported. Planning is already


underway for the 2019 Ag Day, to take place the last week of October. Vander Waal noted BCAC was finally fully staffed at the end of 2018. Last year was also the first year it had someone in charge of the public trust initiative. Funded by a special levy of $100,000, the three-year program is set to end in 2019. The program is grounded in “shared value” communications, says coordinator Becky Parker. Last year’s activities included a revival of the We Heart Local brand and website, which now has over 45,000 followers and several videos of farmers telling their stories. BCAC has also obtained CAP funding to assess the presence and adoption of industry standards/assurance systems within a sample of the BCAC membership to show BC farmers and ranchers are indeed doing the right things. Strengthening public trust is one of BCAC’s key focus areas, Ens said, identifying government representation, communication and engagement, organizational development and program and service delivery as the other four focus areas. Their representations to


government resulted in at least one recent win as government announced the Agricultural Land Reserve would again have only one


zone, something BCAC has been calling for since the previous Liberal government split the ALR in two. The BC Ministry of


Environment’s decision to delay the groundwater licensing deadline to 2023 is another victory, although Ens notes the slow approval process remains a “continued frustration” for farmers and ranchers. BCAC has not been as successful to date in getting an exemption from the new Employer Health Tax for Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program participants. “SAWP workers can’t access the BC medical program so their employers should be exempted from the tax,” Ens says.


Last year, SAWP was a huge headache for employers as government was taking three to four weeks to process labour Market impact assessments and the Mexican labour ministry was also experiencing delays in processing worker visas but things have improved dramatically this year, says Western Agriculture Labour


7


LEARNING A NEW SKILL. Karina came to Kelowna from Creston to learn how to tie grape vines. Tying was late this year because of a delayed spring, she says. MYRNA STARK LEADER PHOTO


Initiative chair Rhonda Driediger.


“Due to enormous effort


(by WALI and others), we’re having a successful year getting all our workers in on time,” she said, noting close to 50% of workers were able to avoid biometrics this year. WALI, a BCAC subsidiary,


recently hired Veronica Moreno as its new program manager and is participating in a pilot Migrant Workers Support Network initiative, launched in February. Driediger says the initiative


is “very positive for us,” ensuring both workers and employers are well informed


of their rights and responsibilities. “WALI has served industry


well,” Vander Waal added. “It has been a tremendous help for us as employers.” BCAC’s second subsidiary,


ARDCorp, had another good year, chair Allen James reported. ARDCorp is BCAC’s program delivery agent, delivering both the Environmental Farm Plan program and the BC Agriculture & Food Climate Action Initiative. Both programs were able to transition their funding from Growing Forward 2, which ended March 31, 2018, to the Canadian Agricultural


Partnership which began April 1, 2018.


EFP manager Ray O’Farrell


reported that the program issued 244 new environmental farm plans and renewed another 127 plans last year. The Beneficial Management Program saw 275 projects completed with almost $1.5 million in program funding. There were only two changes to the BCAC board of directors. Wayne de Jong took over the poultry director’s position from Sharmain Zylstra while Alexis Szarek replaced Jillian Robbins as the ex-officio director representing BC Young Farmers.


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