B.C.91裸聊视频檚 new NDP agriculture minister came to her Liberal predecessor91裸聊视频檚 riding Thursday and laid out a vision for agriculture she says is very different from the one held by the former government.
Lana Popham, who served as her party91裸聊视频檚 agriculture critic for eight years while the NDP was in Opposition, said her vision for agriculture is based on her party91裸聊视频檚 three-point platform, presented in the provincial election earlier this year.
Unlike her predecessor, Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick, now one of two Liberal agriculture critics, Popham said while committed to growing the industry across the province the bottom line numbers are not as important to her as they were to Letnick.
91裸聊视频淲hen I talk about agriculture and food production it91裸聊视频檚 about people and food,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淭hose (bottom line) numbers are great but, on the ground, they don91裸聊视频檛 mean a lot to people.91裸聊视频�
The numbers, often quoted by Letnick, include the agriculture sector in B.C. growing to be a $14 billion and profits for farmers growing to $3.6 billion.
Last week, Letnick said he plans to keep an eye on the 91裸聊视频渂ottom-line91裸聊视频� numbers and monitor the growth and that91裸聊视频檚 what he will judge the NDP91裸聊视频檚 performance on when it comes to its management of the agriculture file.
Popham protection of agricultural land in B.C. must be a priority and her government is considering a return to a single tier Agricultural Land Reserve and an end of regional panels to decide if land should be excluded from the reserve.
While she said discussions with stakeholders and the public about the controversial change brought in by the Liberals under Letnick91裸聊视频檚 watch have yet to take place, she is personally opposed to the two-tier system.
91裸聊视频淚 believe the Agricultural Land Reserve should be one zone and instead of regional panels, there should just be one provincial panel,91裸聊视频� said Popham.
She added there should also be a boundary review to look at if there is land in the reserve that could be released for development in future.
But the new minister said the mandate for the ALR is the protection of agricultural land and that should be the main focus.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not a land bank for development,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚t is land set aside for growing food.91裸聊视频�
In addition to a different view of the ALR than the Liberals, the NDP also wants to bring back the Buy B.C. program, which Popham described as popular in the 1990s. It encouraged British Columbians to buy provincially grown produce.
Popham said unlike the Liberals, her party wants a greater focus on the domestic market for B.C.-produced food and wines. She said Liberals focus was more on international markets, something she supports but not exclusively.
The third part of the NDP91裸聊视频檚 agriculture strategy is called Feed B.C. and will focus on supplying more B.C.-produced food to B.C. hospitals and other areas where the provincial government supplies food.
Popham said a goal is to have 30 per cent of all the food supplied to B.C. hospitals produced in this province.
