Persephone Brewing Company’s push for changes to the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) regulations hit the floor of the Legislature this week.
Persephone, and Crannóg Ales of Sorrento, are both on ALR land where they grow their own hops, but neither company is able to produce enough grain to meet the 50 per cent requirement imposed by the province.
Persephone’s application for a non-farm use exemption from the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) was turned down, despite support from the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD).
The ALC ruling gave Persephone two years to comply, but the company is hoping instead to change the rules so breweries growing at least 50 per cent of any ingredient used in their beer, or who use ingredients grown on other B.C. farms, can operate in the ALR. Wineries and cideries already work under similar rules.
Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons of the NDP challenged Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick during Question Period March 14.
Persephone Brewing and Crannóg Ales have been trying, without success, to get this minister’s attention, but for some reason, he won’t give them the time of day,” said Simons. “Why won’t the minister commit to making these regulations fair before he puts these two well-loved breweries out of business?”
Letnick responed by saying he wasn’t ignoring the issue, and had invited Persephone’s owners to meet.
“But we have two issues here,” Letnick went on. “One is the independence of the Agricultural Land Commission, which makes its decisions independent from the government on the ALR, and the other issue is regulations that cover non-farm use. In the case of the non-farm-use regulations, we did extensive consultations ... We came out with regulations that took a cautious approach.”
Earlier this month, Persephone launched an online petition calling on the province to “update Section 2 (2.3) of the ALR Regulations to ensure the feasibility of farm-based breweries growing agricultural crops, including hops.” It’s at more than 2,600 signatures, including the signature of Liberal candidate for Powell River-Sunshine Coast Mathew Wilson.
Wilson told Coast Reporter that he supports the call for rule changes, and the position Letnick took in the Legislature.
“We need to ensure that the Agricultural Land Commission remains arm’s length, and it would be completely inappropriate for Minister Letnick to overstep that, and I agree with him on that,” said Wilson. “He’s finding an appropriate balance between government and an arm’s-length commission.”
Wilson said his campaign has been talking with Letnick’s staff, Persephone Brewing, and others about possible solutions. “The government shouldn’t direct the ALC to turn a blind eye to, or not enforce, the regulations that have been put in place … He also has to be careful not to overturn that [previous] consultation in drafting new regulations.”
Green candidate Kim Darwin said she’s also sympathetic to the breweries’ situation, especially since craft brewing has become an important economic driver for the province.
“It’s unfortunate that breweries appear to be singled out in the regulations. I appreciate that the ALR is designed to protect local food producing land, however it is crucial that we provide a regulatory structure that allows small businesses to flourish in this province,” Darwin said. “Developing innovative solutions to allow small-scale, farm breweries to operate on ALR land without opening the regulations to large industrial development is key.”
Simons, meanwhile, accused the government of refusing to act on a problem it could easily remedy.
“They know the problem. They know they can fix it, but they’re inactive,” he said in his exchange with Letnick. “They’ve decided to not do anything. Why don’t they do something – actually do something – so that this Ale Trail doesn’t go past abandoned farms?”
