Letter ALR - ALC Review

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200 - 1627 Fort St., Victoria, BC  V8R 1H8 
Telephone  (250) 405-5151    Fax  (250) 405-5155 
Toll Free via Enquiry BC in Vancouver 604.660.2421.  Elsewhere in BC 1.800.663.7867 
Email  information@islandstrust.bc.ca 
Web  www.islandstrust.bc.ca 
 
 
 
Bowen  Denman  Hornby  Gabriola Galiano  Gambier  Lasqueti  Mayne  North Pender  Salt Spring  Saturna  South Pender  Thetis 
April 27, 2018    File No.: 0400-30 
 
via e-mail: ALR_ALCRevitalization@gov.bc.ca 
 
Jennifer Dyson 
Minister’s Advisory Committee 
Revitalization of ALR and ALC 
c/o Ministry of Agriculture  
PO Box 9120 Stn Prov Govt 
Victoria BC V8W 9B4 
 
Dear Jennifer Dyson: 
 
Re: Agricultural Land Reserve and Agricultural Land Commission Revitalization  
 
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the revitalization of the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) and 
Agricultural Land Commission (ALC).  The Agricultural Land Reserve is an important asset in the Islands Trust 
Area. By supporting food security and protecting farming opportunities for current and future farming families, 
the ALR helps sustain the character of our islands and the health of our communities.  
 
The Islands Trust Council supports the preservation of the ALR and its management by an independent and 
adequately funded ALC. Under the Islands Trust Act 
 
The object of the Trust is to preserve and protect the Trust Area and its unique amenities and 
environment for the benefit of the residents of the Trust Area and of British Columbia generally, in 
cooperation with municipalities, regional districts, improvement districts, other persons and 
organizations and the government of British Columbia. 
 
The ALR forms part of the unique amenities of the Trust Area and both the ALC and the Islands Trust share 
a responsibility for the protection of farmland and farming activities on the islands. Thirteen and a half per 
cent of the Islands Trust Area land base is within the ALR, and 37 per cent of the ALR in the Trust Area is 
forested.    
 
Lands within the ALR in the Islands Trust Area face intense development pressures. The ALC should be 
mandated and funded to conduct thorough permit application reviews and timely enforcement of 
infractions. We would also like to see the ALC reinvigorate proactive work such as: 
 regional-level land use planning;  
 analysis of permitted uses; and  
 the preservation and encouragement of agricultural farm uses.  
 
 
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Minister’s Advisory Committee 
April 27, 2018 
Page 2 
 
 
Compared with many farms in British Columbia, the farms in the Islands Trust Area may challenge 
conventional notions of what ‘agriculture’ is, what normal farm practices are, and what viable farming 
operations can look like. The ALC should therefore have the ability to be responsive to the sometimes 
unique situations of our islands. In brief, the Islands Trust Council holds that agricultural policies applied 
to the Trust Area should be appropriate to the nature of agriculture practices within t

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