DECEMBER 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Ranchers voice ALR concerns at


public meetings Many feel marginalized by the province’s agenda


by JACKIE PEARASE & TOM WALKER


CRANBROOK – The


province seems to be acting first and asking forgiveness later when making changes to the Agricultural Land Reserve, and that’s not working for ranchers in the East Kootenays and Kamloops region.


Close to 60 farmers and


landowners met in Cranbrook on November 5 for the seventh in a series of eight public meetings the BC Ministry of Agriculture hosted this fall to hear how it could better support farming in the ALR. Agricultural Land


Commission chair Jennifer Dyson, CEO Kim Grout and assistant deputy agriculture minister James Mack received yet another earful from growers. “The idea of two zones


came from the Kootenays and the north,” said Randy Reay, a Jaffray rancher and land use chair for the Kootenay Livestock Association. “Nobody came to ask us if we would support a change. There was not even one of these engagement meetings scheduled for the Kootenay region.”


The meetings were


originally scheduled to end in Castlegar on October 30, but the ministry added dates in Cranbrook and Kamloops in response to public demand. While the meetings were framed as information


sessions, Reay, like many presenters throughout the consultation, was intent on being heard. “We are not allowed to


make a presentation at this meeting; we are being told we are here to listen,” Reay adds. “Well, we’re here to tell you we are not.” Speakers voiced concerns that changes to regulations governing the ALR are not supporting Kootenay farmers. Bill 52’s elimination of two zones, introduced by the BC Liberals in 2014 to give growers in marginal areas greater flexibility, was criticized. “A single zone is wrong for


this area,” said Faye Street, who spent 30 years ranching near Jaffray. “We don’t have the climate or the soil or the access to markets that farmers in the Lower Mainland and the Okanagan do.” She says the ability to earn a second income on the farm by welding or parking logging trucks keeps local farms viable.


Second homes, particularly


where farm succession is concerned, was a big issue. “Is the family farm a bad


word?” asked Reay. “I don’t want to move into a trailer, and I don’t want to move off the farm. I still have some years of experience to lend to my children.”


A mobile home doesn’t add value to a farm, Wycliffe rancher Anke Brander said. It’s a depreciating asset even if


7


Agricultural Land Commission chair Jennifer Dyson talks to a farmer during the public meeting in Kamloops, November 14. JACKIE PEARASE PHOTO


the owner spends $25,000 for a well and $25,000 for a septic field. It’s more difficult to insure, and will ultimately need to be replaced. “And they look like shit,” she


added.


This creates uncertainty. “Lenders are hesitant and insurance companies don’t want to cover a temporary structure,” says rancher Donna Morrison. Regional District of East


Kootenay director Stan Doehle pointed out that the ALC refused 72% of secondary residence applications over


the last two years even though the regional district endorsed all of them. One speaker scoffed at the idea that any farmer would build in the middle of a productive field; that was something “only a city guy” would do.


But then a city guy spoke


up, saying he was having trouble building housing for his ranch even though the province has said housing for farm help is welcome. “[I] am looking to expand


into ranching,” said Darin MacDonald, who is in the process of relocating from Calgary to Elkford. “I have hired a qualified ranch manager to help me build a herd, but my application for on-ranch housing was turned down.”


He said his only recourse is


to request “reconsideration” from the same panel that rejected his application on the basis of “new evidence” –


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