VANCOUVER – There are more serious questions about Premier Christy Clark’s secret plan to dismantle the ALR, with the news that Pat Pimm tried to interfere with an Agriculture Land Commission decision before and after Clark named him agriculture minister, say New Democrats.
“Premier Christy Clark selected a minister of agriculture who does not respect the ALC’s independence and mandate to protect agricultural land in the public interest. Official documents show that prior to preparing a cabinet plan to dismantle the ALC, Pimm used both his MLA and Ministerial offices to try to push the independent Commission to reconsider a proposal to remove land from the Agricultural Land Reserve,” said New Democrat leader Adrian Dix.
“When the Commission rejected the proposal for a second time, it rebuked Pimm for ignoring clear protocols prohibiting political interference in ALR decisions. In the wake of this ruling, the Premier and her Minister moved on a secret plan to reduce the Commission’s independence.”
Premier Clark never once mentioned dismantling the ALC or ALR during the election campaign. But Commission documents outline how in the days and months following the May 14th vote and being named Agriculture Minister, Pimm deployed resources from both his community and ministerial office to try to sway the ALC to reconsider a request to remove prime farmland from the ALR.
After the Commission rejected and rebuked Pimm’s attempts to interfere with a land use decision, the agriculture minister proceeded with preparing a secret plan for cabinet to end its independence and mandate to protect the ALR. The plan gives wholesale control of land use decisions for close to half the province to the Oil and Gas Commission, with the government taking over the rest of the ALC’s responsibilities.
“Pimm’s prior attempt to override rules against political interference with ALC decisions further explains why he has not replied to any questions on the Liberals’ secret plan to ruin the ALR. His conduct and attitude also creates unavoidable questions about Clark’s judgment and motive in appointing him as the agriculture minister,” said New Democrat agriculture critic Nicolas Simons.
Since news broke that the Clark Liberal government has a draft plan to dismantle the ALC and ALR, Energy Minister Bill Bennett has been the appointed cabinet spokesperson.
“Minister Bennett has never been shy about showing his disdain for protecting our valuable farmland and for putting the interests of speculators and condo developers ahead of farmers,” said Simons. “But it’s supposed to be Minister Pimm’s job to stand up for agriculture, an industry that has been a cornerstone of B.C.’s economy and culture since before the province joined confederation.”
The ALC decision that Pimm attempted to interfere with can be found at this link: http://www.alc.gov.bc.ca/application_status/Docs/53049d2a.pdf