Photo: Contributed

A Green Party government would do more to protect B.C.’s agricultural land from mega-mansions and other non-farming development, the party leader said Wednesday.

Andrew Weaver announced an agriculture platform in Nelson Thursday that would see more than $70 million spent on farming inititatives in the next four years.

“We are fortunate in British Columbia to have an abundance of fertile agricultural land,” he told reporters and a small group of party faithful in the Kootenay city. “However, food security is a problem for many British Columbians.”

Weaver said under the current provincial government, total farm area dropped nearly eight per cent in the five years from 2006 to 2011, and 90 per cent of Agricultural Land Reserve land has been opened up to other activities like oil and gas exploration.

The Green leader said prices for land are getting out of reach for young people who want to farm, while the average age for existing farm operators is over 55. On top of the demographic crunch facing the province, little or no research is being done by government to plan for the effects of climate change on farming or how to make the best of technological innovation

“Government’s job is to develop a plan that will ensure that, although the world may be changing, our children will enjoy the same if not better levels of health and well-being than we inherited,” Weaver said.

Among the pledges, the Greens say they’ll introduce legislation to enhance the protection of Agricultural Land Reserve land. Speculation and foreign ownership will be discouraged, and limits will be placed on non-agricultural uses for ALR land like building mega-mansions.

“Farm land is under threat from developers, from speculators, and the wealthy who wish to appropriate it to construct elaborate country estates,” he said. 

The party’s platform includes more than $70 million in funding for agricultural programs and support.

Weaver said his government would spend $30 million to promote food production on existing Agricultural Land Reserve land, create farm apprenticeship programs for schools, support sustainable farming practices, and help develop food marketing programs. 

Another $40 million would be spent to re-establish regional agricultural bureaus to fund research and support farmers in adapting to climate change. It would also work with the industry to address labour shortages and provide better wages for agricultural workers.

Access to land is one of the biggest barriers to attracting younger farmers, Weaver said, so the party would look to supporting the development of alternatives to traditional land ownership, including co-operatives, farmland trusts, farming on public land and informal land sharing structures. 

“Global forces like population increase, climate change and technological advancement mean that B.C. needs a plan for its future,” said Weaver. “BC agriculture has the opportunity to provide food security for the people here, and beyond, if we make the smart investments today and nurture success tomorrow.”

B.C. voters go to the polls on May 9.