Water security and financial supports were top agenda items when the BC Agriculture Council leadership met this fall with Premier David Eby and Pam Alexis, Agriculture and Food Minister (seated far left)
Agriculture Day, an annual lobby effort of the BC Agriculture Council (BCAC), took place at the Victoria Legislature on October 24. The theme was “Advancing Agriculture on the Agenda” and the two main topics, supported by the 58 agriculture association representatives, were:
Water Security: Solutions proposed were: establishing agriculture water reserves to prioritize water use for agriculture, as well as investments in water storage infrastructure
Costs of Production: Solutions were to assist farmers with improved working capital to make investments in technologies and a carbon tax exemption. Relief of financial pressures on farm operations and access to capital were also topics of discussion
For the first time in memory, BCAC met with the premier at Agriculture Day. BCAC president Jennifer Woike, director Jennifer Critcher and executive director Danielle Synotte, joined Agriculture and Food Minister Pam Alexis and assistant deputy minister Peter Pokorny in the meeting with Premier David Eby (pictured above).
With a provincial election scheduled for October 24, 2024 (unless it is called earlier), this precedent-setting meeting with Premier Eby took on even greater significance in carrying forward the importance of water security and increasing cost pressures for agriculture.
There were 28 other meetings during the day, with ministers and caucuses as well as industry organizations including the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC, BC Farm Industry Review Board and the Agricultural Land Commission.
Attending for the BC Fruit Growers’ Association (BCFGA) at 10 of these meetings were vice-president Deep Brar and general manager Glen Lucas.
With new announcements on the responsibility for water being directed to the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship (WLRS), the attendance of Brar at the session with WLRS (affectionately known as “Walrus”) is an important step in understanding the new government structure to handle water issues.
BCFGA president Peter Simonsen attended several meetings on behalf of the BCAC board, as he is a director.
The BCFGA provided some export quality Ambrosia to the office of the minister of agriculture, which she shared with other legislators and staff. The day ended with a reception and proclamation of Agriculture Day by Minister Pam Alexis.
The overall impression from the meetings is that elected officials and government executive staff understand both the importance of agriculture and that farmers are among the most trusted of any industry representatives and professions (for example: producer.com/opinion/who-do-consumers-trust-farmers-favoured-for-reliable-info.)
A theme that is emerging is that B.C. needs to place additional targeted funding into B.C. agriculture and not be handcuffed to the federal-provincial program rules.
Glen Lucas, P.Ag. is the executive director of the BC Fruit Growers’ Association.