According to a press release from the Wilderness Committee, the Union of BC municipalities (UBCM) has passed resolutions calling for the province to rescind the Order in Council that excluded Site C dam reservoir lands from the Agricultural Land Reserve and refer the project to the BC Utilities Commission. Both resolutions pertain to actions Premier Christy Clark’s government undertook to bypass supposedly independent provincial agencies. While neither are legally binding, UBCM told the Province to Stand Down over Site C.
The firing of Agricultural Land Commission Chair Richard Bullock has already been called the latest step in the BC Government’s war on agriculture. Though he was appointed by cabinet, Bullock was the head of a supposedly “independent administrative tribunal dedicated to preserving agricultural land and encouraging farming in British Columbia.” He also opposed Bill 24, which weakened protections on 90% of the province’s agricultural land reserve (ALR). There are huge issues with oil and gas underneath some of the agricultural land in the Northeast corner of BC. On April 8, cabinet overrode the ALC to remove 4,000 hectares from the Agricultural Land Reserve in the Peace River Valley, so they could be flooded if/when the Site C Dam is built. Bullock defended agricultural lands against these developments. Yesterday, the government dismissed him in a 30-second phone call.
