BC NDP Leadership Race

On April 17th, members of the BC NDP Party will vote for their next leader. Here are some facts you need to know on each leadership contenders and their agricultural policy platform:

Adrian Dix

To contact Adrian Dix, go to www.adriandix.ca

On February 24th, Adrian Dix, while visiting the Okanagan, took the opportunity to discuss the importance of the tree fruit industry in B.C. and supporting our local producers. He discussed his proposal to leverage the purchasing power of the local health authorities to boost the agricultural industry by purchasing from local growers and farmers.

On April 8th, Adrian Dix put forth a grant program for the tree fruit industry as part of his platform as BC NDP Candidate. A 7.5 million dollar "Grower Production Program"  is something the BCFGA proposed to the provincial government last year when growers started to struggle. This program would ensure growers produced high quality crops.

Dix is also promising that an NDP government, under his leadership, would make sure hospitals buy locally grown food, including fruit.

 

Mike Farnworth

Mike Farnworth recently released his Environmental Platform in which he talks about agriculture:

  • A “no net-loss” policy for the Agricultural Land Reserve in eachregion and an enhance BUY BC program and BC Food First policy to  support local food production;

For a full copy of his Platform or to contact Mike Farnworth, go to mikefarnworth.ca

In a March 3rd interview with Kelowna Capital News, Mike Farnworth expressed his concern about agriculture's place in B.C. "Agriculture is important to the province but unfortunately has been largely ignored by the Liberal government", he stated. 

That same day, he participated in a panel discussion on the potential of small-scale sustainable farming in B.C. His agricultural platform i

 

Develop a comprehensive strategy to enable sustainable agriculture in B.C.

  • Develop a comprehensive strategy to enable sustainable agriculture in B.C.
  • Increase demand for B.C. grown products through initiatives including an expanded BUY BC program and a BC Food-First policy.
  • Ensure the Agricultural Land Commission is independent and has sufficient funding to pursue its mission.
  • Stop the practice of replacing high-quality agricultural land with low-quality agricultural land and implement a no net-loss policy for each region.
  • Support the return of the farmable land to the ALR.
  • Change regulations to end disincentives to farm-gate sales, as well as small and medium scale production.

 

John Horgan

In a press release issued on February 25th, John Horgan outlined his three priorities in his Agricultural Plan:

  1. Land.  Reinstate adequate funding for the Agricultural Land Commission and place a priority on firming up the boundaries of the Agricultural Land Reserve.  A Horgan-led government will take the lead in addressing issues surrounding retirement and inter-generational transition in farming, including examining the feasibility of establishing a farmland trust or land bank program in the province.

  2. Farmers.  Restore agriculture extension services so that farmers around the province have access to industry experts and restore extension agent support for the organic food industry.

  3. Markets.  Restore government funding to the Buy BC Program and consult with the industry about making the program work in the 21st century. A Horgan government will ensure that local meat producers have appropriate access to health inspection services and will develop a long term marketing strategy to take advantage of rapidly growing markets like Asia.

For a full copy of the press release, please go to www.johnhorgan.ca

 


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