The provincial government has appointed former Saanich mayor Frank Leonard as chairman of B.C.’s Agricultural Land Commission, pushing out the previous chairman five months before his term was supposed to end.
The commission oversees property with Agricultural Land Reserve designation, which restricts how the land can be used.
Leonard, who is also temporarily CEO, said a top goal will be to make owners of the 4.7 million hectares of ALR land feel proud, not burdened.
“They feel like they’re carrying a burden for the people of British Columbia,” Leonard told the Times Colonist a couple of hours into his new position on Thursday.
“I completely understand what they’re saying, but if we can make it work so that ownership also includes economic viability, that’s the ultimate. … You want someone to have ALR land and be proud of it. And part of that pride is its financial viability.”
In announcing the three-year appointment, B.C. Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick praised Leonard’s leadership skills. Former commissioner Richard Bullock, a Kelowna orchardist, had five months left in his term as joint CEO and chairman and will receive a severance payment roughly equivalent to his pay, Letnick said.
The B.C. NDP criticized the early departure, saying the firing of Bullock “further weakens” the commission. “Richard Bullock has been an effective advocate for the protection of farmland in British Columbia,” said NDP agriculture critic Lana Popham, MLA for Saanich South, in a statement. “Bullock is a true champion for agriculture, who is respected by all sectors of the agriculture industry for his expertise and fair-mindedness.”
“Frank’s a good head — he thinks before he talks. And Frank knows the issues.”
Popham said it’s a critical time for B.C. agriculture, as the Liberal government prepares to release regulations stemming from Bill 24, which she said weakened farmland protections on 90 per cent of ALR land.
The Liberals passed Bill 24 on May 29, 2014; it offers more options for agricultural land use outside Vancouver Island, Metro Vancouver and the Okanagan.
“By replacing B.C.’s agricultural watchdog with someone with no background in agriculture, the B.C. Liberals are making it clear that their attack on the ALR has only just begun,” Popham said.
Letnick said there were differences of opinion with Bullock, but the motive for the early changeover is getting on with the legislation and new strategies for seafood and agricultural production. “The Agricultural Land Commission is a big part of that and it’s really important that we get someone on the ground today,” said Letnick, who nonetheless praised Bullock’s “great legacy.”
The commission is an independent tribunal with a mission to preserve agricultural land and encourage farm businesses.
Leonard said he travelled widely and met many farmers when he was chairing the Municipal Finance Authority of B.C., has been a past co-chairman of the Farm Assessment Review Panel and was once part of a panel that interviewed potential candidates for the position he now holds.
In 28 years on Saanich council, he had several opportunities to deal with ALR issues, given that 20 per cent of the municipality’s land is in the ALR, he said.
Leonard’s appointment comes just as the Alberg family’s contentious Gordon Head cattle feedlot was deemed worthy of consideration for rezoning by Saanich council. The Alberg land is in the Agricultural Land Reserve, so any rezoning for a residential subdivision would come before the commission for ALR exclusion.
Leonard will earn $600 a day in the post, but the chairmanship will not be a full-time job after November, when Leonard is expected to have found a chief executive officer.
Farmer Jack Mar, a former Central Saanich mayor, said Leonard has always been “very fair.
“Frank’s a good head — he thinks before he talks,” said Mar, a director with the North & South Saanich Agricultural Society. “And Frank knows the issues.”
Leonard ran for re-election as Saanich mayor in the November election but was defeated by Richard Atwell.
With additional reporting by Jeff Bell
