Green Party leader Andrew Weaver says the province has to do a better job helping farmers and protecting farmland in B.C.
Weaver, who was in Kelowna Sunday and Monday, toured a small cidery in the Glenmore Valley on Monday and said he feels farmers have not been well-served by 16 years of B.C. Liberal government.
香蕉视频直播淔armer香蕉视频直播檚 can香蕉视频直播檛 get on the land because the land value is so high,香蕉视频直播� said Weaver. 香蕉视频直播淭here is a role for government, to ensure (young farmers) have access to the land so they can farm.香蕉视频直播�
The B.C. Green Party leader said B.C. has a problem with what it sees as agriculture land in this province being used in a 香蕉视频直播渟peculative real estate sector.香蕉视频直播�
And a B.C. Green government would address that, vowed Weaver.
He said foreign ownership香蕉视频直播斚憬妒悠抵辈by people who do not live and pay taxes in Canada香蕉视频直播澫憬妒悠抵辈 should be limited to no more than five acres of B.C. agricultural land.
香蕉视频直播淏.C. is the wild west in every aspect of everything,香蕉视频直播� he said, adding there are limits to how much productive farm land foreign buyers can own in many other provinces.
香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 the right thing to do because ultimately, you cannot have your food-producing regions potentially at the whim of speculators in other areas.香蕉视频直播�
Speaking at the Scenic Road Cider Company, a small two-year-old craft cidery in the heart the Kelowna-Lake Country riding香蕉视频直播攁 riding represented for the last eight years by current B.C. Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick香蕉视频直播擶eaver took direct aim at how the Liberals have handled agriculture while in power.
Asked if the Liberals had let down farmers Weaver, replied: 香蕉视频直播淵es, I would say absolutely.香蕉视频直播�
He called recent changes to the Agricultural Land Reserve brought in by Letnick that created a two-tier system, where development would be allowed on less productive agriculture land that is currently in the ALR 香蕉视频直播渙utrageous,香蕉视频直播� and simply a ploy to allow fracking and gas exploration on agricultural land in Northern B.C.
香蕉视频直播淚t has nothing to do with the preservation of agricultural land in B.C.,香蕉视频直播� said Weaver.
Speaking with B.C. Green candidate Alison Shaw by his side香蕉视频直播攕he香蕉视频直播檚 running against Letnick in Kelowna-Lake Country香蕉视频直播擶eaver also said his party would focus on regional development offices to help young families get into farming in a similar way tech incubators help technology companies get off the ground.
香蕉视频直播淲e have an aging farming population and that香蕉视频直播檚 not healthy. We need to get young people back in to view farming as a career.香蕉视频直播�
With federal plans to legalize the recreational use of marijuana coming next year and the downloading of much of the responsibility for that onto the provinces, Weaver said B.C. must protect what he called its 香蕉视频直播渃raft香蕉视频直播� marijuana industry, in a similar way to how craft beer production and craft ciders are dealt with.
香蕉视频直播淭here香蕉视频直播檚 billions of dollars of revenue potentially,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淚f those revenues are managed properly.香蕉视频直播�
On Sunday, Weaver at a Kelowna hotel before attending the Kelowna Rockets-Seattle Thunderbirds WHL game at Prospera Place later that evening.
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