The month-long Agricultural Land Commission consultation closed Aug. 22, and the B.C. government is compiling the feedback received from a province-wide tour and invitation to comment.
I can鈥檛 tell you much about the official input. The consultation sessions were by invitation only, with no media allowed, and the submissions via website are also not public.
I reached Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick as he was traveling around B.C. with his camper van, conducting his own meetings with farmers. He鈥檚 not saying much either, except that a summary of the findings should be made public in September as the government considers new regulations.
The aim of this exercise is to around secondary farmland uses in the Interior, Kootenay and North regions, as well as food processing and retail sales of food and beverages on farmland. Also under consideration is allowing breweries and distilleries, as wine and cider production are now allowed, and relaxing rules to permit more off-farm products to be sold from farms.
Letnick defended the 30-day summer consultation as adequate. It鈥檚 based on 11 questions developed with staff, farm groups and local government. He鈥檚 also not counting how many emails were stacked up by proponents or critics.
鈥淚鈥檓 not conducting a plebiscite,鈥� Letnick said. 鈥淲hat I鈥檓 trying to do is come up with the best balance of recommendations to make to government that can hold their own based on the idea and the potential positive and negative consequences.鈥�
NDP agriculture critic Lana Popham was more forthcoming. She was invited to the formal sessions, and also won鈥檛 talk about them directly. But she鈥檚 not backing away from her criticisms.
The government is proposing to bypass the Agricultural Land Commission for several kinds of decisions, including subdivision for family use or into properties of 160 acres or more.
鈥淚 think the general idea was that people trust the ALC to make that decision, and it should still go through the commission,鈥� Popham said. 鈥淎ctually the commission has been making those decisions anyway, and I think they鈥檝e been quite fair when somebody applies.鈥�
She said farmers also aren鈥檛 sold on the notion of easing the rules for secondary businesses.
鈥淵ou will already find situations where there鈥檚, let鈥檚 say a welding shop or something like that attached to somebody鈥檚 residence who lives on ALR land,鈥� Popham said. 鈥淭hat sort of stuff has been allowed, but it鈥檚 always had to go through the ALC or some sort of process that鈥檚 been in place. This leaves that process out, and so I think that鈥檚 the problem people are having.鈥�
She noted that non-farm activities have a way of growing until they become the main business.
A reader who attended the Kelowna session said even winery operators aren鈥檛 thrilled about the proposal to enlarge retail space and allow sales of wine or beer not made on site. He said 鈥渘ot one鈥� participant there liked the idea of increasing industrial activity such as food processing or retailing. And he agreed with Popham that the ALC is doing a good job with subdivision applications.
Popham also clarified the situation with the leased craft gin distillery on her own Vancouver Island farm. It started as a winery, and the conversion needed only local government approval because the production facility was already considered and taxed as light industrial.
Victoria Gin has been a model for the government鈥檚 push to allow distilleries, breweries or meaderies on farmland. Given the B.C. Liberals鈥� love of liberalized liquor, I expect that change to go through.
Tom Fletcher is legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Twitter:
