2 ALC “trying to change”


meetings were held with stakeholder groups. “People really doubted whether this process was authentic,” Mack said. “We have an accountability to show authenticity by actually doing some stuff, quickly.” Signalling future directions


is part of being publicly accountable. A summary report of what was heard during the consultation will also be published. “We are trying to change and engage with people and give people a heads-up,” he said. “They’ll know what we heard, and [have] a sense of where we’re going from here.” Secondary residences, fill and value-added activities were among the key issues during the consultation, Mack told institute representatives. “If anything was a big, dominant theme, it was that one,” Mack said of secondary residences, noting that modular homes were a primary example. And it wasn’t just limits on the homes themselves that were a concern; it was how the new regulations affected farmers’ ability to get insurance, loans and other benefits of property ownership.


Residences were also a key


issue for new entrants, as well as facilitating knowledge transfer between generations. “What we heard was the issue with new entrants today is actually about residences,” he said.


The signalling Mack


promised came in the form of remarks from the agriculture minister herself, who told the


35 farmers’ institutes represented at the meeting that her staff are exploring the potential of allowing all landowners in the ALR to have a second home without the need for the Agricultural Land Commission’s permission. These could include mobile homes and carriage houses, but whether permanent structures will be allowed hasn’t been announced. Property owners would simply need to register the second home with the commission. Permission would still be required for third, fourth and further homes for farm workers, however. Popham also said


landowners who use fill for activities such as resurfacing driveways could also be exempted from having to tell the land commission what they’re doing. “We’re also considering


removing the notice of intent requirements for fill that’s being dumped on the Agricultural Land Reserve but is a low-risk activity,” she said. In addition, the $1,500 application fee the ALC requires from landowners could be reduced significantly to mitigate the financial and emotional stress on smaller landowners. The fee, introduced in 2016, aimed to recoup about 40% of processing costs. A briefing note Mack wrote for former agriculture minister Norm Letnick described the fee as “a reasonable balance in supporting the ALC to fulfill their mandate of protecting


famland and helping BC farmers look at opportunities to enhance their agricultural incomes.” Popham told the farmers’ institutes it didn’t measure up. “It certainly doesn’t recover the amount work that goes into processing those applications – it would be way higher if it did – and so if it’s not reflecting that work anyway, maybe we decrease it to reflect on the affordability of people in British Columbia,” she said. To communicate future


changes affecting ALR landowners, Popham is exploring distributing information in partnership with BC Assessment via assessment notices each January and other regular mailings.


The meeting with farmers’ institutes marked the end of a stakeholder engagement process that began in September. The results will guide new regulations giving force and effect to Bill 15, passed this spring, among other changes.


SMALL operations hit hardest


receive for fresh-market fruit. “If fruit is being hand


picked, in order for the costs to be paid, the berries must be sold into the fresh market,” the report states.


Changes to the piece rates,


designed to keep pace with increases in the minimum wage, have further eroded grower margins. The last increase in piece rates, in January 2019, added close to $8 million to labour costs for fruit and vegetable growers across the province. In the case of berry


growers, the report said the increase erodes farm profitability already hit by “declining production and margin levels over the past two years.” Industry sources indicate that operations of 30 acres and less are facing significant challenges. BC Blueberry Council


executive director Anju Gill is still reviewing the study


findings but she notes the disclaimer that there wasn’t enough data to draw conclusive statements about the industry. For this reason, she told Country Life in BC, the council has initiated a study of its own to fully understand the piece rate issue. She hopes to have initial results of the study before next season. The blueberry council’s study was one of a number of actions the report recommends. Rather than doing away with piece rates altogether, the report encourages a reset of piece rates. “The current piece rates


represent the latest in a series of proportional increases to the rates first set in 1981. There has been no adjustment for the new agricultural practices developed and adopted in the almost three decades since,” the report concludes. “Piece rates need to be re- examined.” It suggests that piece rates


may not be appropriate for peaches and apricots, crops where gentle handling is


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JANUARY 2020 nfrom page 1


“The urgent [goal] is to think about some flexibility right now, and in government “right now” means early next year,” Mack told he meeting. “We’re really looking first thing in the new year to get out and … give some clarity to people.”


He also promised staff


would keep listening to growers’ concerns. “We don’t want to do all this engagement and suddenly disappear,” he said. “We’re going to keep doing engagement.”


nfrom page 1


important and most farms pay harvesters by the hour. Other crops, particularly apples, cherries and blueberries, may need rates reset to reflect changes in growing systems and other factors. The report also


recommends compensation structures that reward productivity. A team led by independent consultant Karen Taylor surveyed workers and gathered data in fall 2018. The aim was to give government a better grasp of how workers experienced the piece rate system. Previous reports had not done this, said the labour ministry, relying instead “on employer information with little to no consultation with workers or worker advocates.” A lack of data regarding


workers continues to dog researchers, and the latest study calls for statistics from workers that measure the real impact policy changes are having on the farm sector. The report will underpin


any changes the province decides to make in piece rates.


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