Meghan McPherson says her one-hectare Courtenay hobby farm is suffering at the hands of provincial policies that are hurting farmers.
She was one of about 100 people at the legislature Monday, along with Raquel Kolof of Hough Road Farm in Gibsons, to protest legislation they say is creating hardship in the farming sector.
McPherson said one problematic piece of the legislation is Bill 52, which puts limits on residential structures in the Agricultural Land Reserve.
“Bill 52, when I found out about it seven months ago, stopped me dead in my tracks.”
The bill keeps farmers from maintaining secondary, non-farm-use residences for immediate family and limits the size of residences to prevent construction of mega-mansions. More than 26,000 farmers have signed a petition for its repeal.
McPherson said the bill creates barriers for new farmers and insecurity for retiring farmers.
Kolof, who raises Berkshire pigs, described herself to the crowd as “a proud, small-scale, diversified farmer.”
She said about 51 per cent of farms in B.C. are small-scale — four hectares and under.
“We do a great service to food security, to growing healthy food in a sustainable way, in a humane way,” Kolof said.
But farmers such as her are being regulated “into oblivion” by the province, she said. One example, she said, is Bill 15, which makes a number of changes to the way the ALR works, including banning farmers from having value-added operations such as farm-to-table enterprises that allow them to sell directly to the public.
“I can sell raw pork,” Kolof said. “And as delicious as that pork is, I would like to maybe have a little eatery where I could sell great burgers or sausages, things like that.”
That would help make her farm more economically viable, she said.
Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said the government has strived to give plenty of flexibility for farmers, which she distinguished from non-farming ALR landowners.
“I think the Agricultural Land Reserve is always a contentious thing when we change any legislation or regulation,” she said. “We do think we’re on the right path because we know that food-growing lands around the world are becoming more and more critical, and they’re definitely being affected by climate change.
“So we put in strong protections, but along with that we’ve always heard that you can’t just protect the land, you have to have supports in place for farmers.”
She said the province has “a heavy focus” on value-added opportunities for farmers.
“So we’re putting in a food-processing network across the province, which is allowing food entrepreneurs to use our primary goods that we have here in the province and create value-added goods.”
She said farmers who want an extra home on their land should put in an application, and the Agricultural Land Commission will make a decision through “a lens of agriculture.”
Popham said the combination of agriculture, seafood and food processing is vital to the economy and generated a record $15 billion in 2018.
The B.C. Liberals responded to farmers’ concerns by introducing a pair of private-member’s bills in the legislature Monday stressing that farmers are businesspeople and deserve the same supports as non-farming businesses.
