Dear editor:
Re: “Farm changes a great leap forward,” (Gazette, Aug. 14).
Agriculture minister Norm Letnick happens to be reducing the harm from Bill 24 (this spring’s ALR bill) with his consultation about the ALR Regulation. However, columnist Tom Fletcher seems confused about its main purpose.
The consultation paper begins with it: “The purpose of this consultation is to invite your input on some proposed additional activities. . . .” That contrasts with the Bill 24 experience, where thousands of citizens of all stripes requested consultation and were spurned.
It remains obvious that the bill reduced the protection of farmland in the nine-tenths of the ALR in the new second tier. It is not obvious why Fletcher thinks that fact or a distillery on MLA Lana Popham’s farm is relevant to the current consultation.
In many ways, Letnick’s collegial process is exemplary. One gets the sense of a group of people with down-to-earth knowledge working toward careful updates to the ALR Regulation.
To take part, Google “July 2014 Land Commission consultation” without quotes. You’ll find the consultation paper and a survey, open till August 22.
Bill 24 harmed the Agricultural Land Commission and the ALR. The shared success of this consultation can bring some healing.
Jim Wright
Garden City Conservation Society
