Whereas the Ministry of Agriculture has made legislation changes in regards to Bill 15 and Bill 52 that impact the Agricultural Land Commission authority with regards to land use applications; And whereas these changes are impacting local governments and how they review and potentially refer their residents applications that are located in the Agricultural Land Reserve to the Agricultural Land Commission: Therefore be it resolved that the Ministry of Agriculture place a moratorium undertake fulsome consultation with local governments on the development of any new ALC regulations, so that until such time as local governments can fully understand the implications on their residents and have an opportunity to provide provided input prior to the adoption of these in developing any new regulations.
Ministry of Agriculture Over the past two years, the Ministry has worked to revitalize the Agricultural Land Reserve ALR and the Agricultural Land Commission ALC with input from local governments and stakeholders including: farmers, ranchers, and the general public. The MoA and the ALC held public engagement sessions from September 19, 2019 to November 15, 2019. The Ministry heard from people in communities across British Columbia BC. and discussed what can be done to: create new economic opportunities; help new entrants get into farming; and provide more flexibility for residences on the ALR. The MoA is seeing a common interest in protecting agricultural land and an increased need to provide greater clarity, and some flexibility, around economic opportunities and residences. At the end of the public engagement period, the Ministry produced a What We Heard report: https:engage.gov.bc.casupportingfarmers that was made publicly available on January 27, 2020. The Ministry has started policy work on small secondary residence options in the ALR, while continuing to prioritize preserving the land to be used for farming or ranching. The Policy Intentions Paper was available for people to provide feedback starting on January 27, 2020 to May 17, 2020. Read the Policy Intentions Paper PDF https:www2.gov.bc.caassetsgovfarming-natural-resources-and-industryagri… A targeted outreach was made to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities UBCM to provide opportunity to comment on the Policy Intentions Paper, and an invitation to participate in policy discussions was sent to all local governments and regional districts. The Ministry is committed to providing local governments with information on the recent regulations that brought the Bill 15 changes to the Agricultural Land Commission Act into effect, and providing opportunities for local governments to provide feedback and understand these and other legislative and regulatory changes before they are made into law.