Public Hearing on the Southlands & the ALR.

Hi everyone,

I went to the hearing and gave them my 2 cents worth on farming, agriculture, and the ALR.  I'm going to post a transcript of my notes as it touches on permaculture and I plugged the Transition Town initiative in general and within Vancouver.  The hall was packed with a few hundred people as well as Delta City Corp council.  Iit will be aired on Delta Cable TV and there will be transcripts and a DVD of the 4 nights of public input as well.

Here are the notes that I read from:

I feel compelled to say that I am against the reinsertion of the Southlands into the ALR.
 Firstly, I loath the idea of relinquishing municipal jurisdiction to the Provincial Govt or a “regional authority”.  It is my conviction that we need local solutions for local problems coming from the community and not dictated upon it from unelected bureaucrats.  That's real democracy.

Of equal importance:  I don’t want it to be inferred that I am a proponent of the Century Group development application.  I am steadfastly against it.  I stand in support of everyone in this community who think it absurd to build on arable land. Period.  But I think it equally absurd to farm on land that can be left for wilderness habitat when we are surrounded by thousands of acres of prime farmland already in use in the ALR.

And while there may be some benefit in regards to certain species clinging to life on the fringes of a field of corn or potatoes, it would pale in comparison to the biodiversity present in the wild.  Not just animals and birds but plants and trees such as goldenrod, cat tail, huckleberry, and Indian Plum to name but a few.  All of which have medicinal and great nutritional value.

A look at the historical effect the ALC has had in managing the ALR shows a net result of an exclusion of land:
• 5500 hectares in the Fraser Valley
• 6500 hectares in Metro Vancouver alone

That's 12,000 hectares of land that has been removed since 1974 and this equates to URBAN SPRAWL.

Look at Richmond, Maple Ridge, Langley, Chilliwack, etc and so on.

The ALC states their mandate is to protect and promote agriculture based on “modern” farming practices.
 
Agriculture, not farming. 

What is not stated but obvious is that this management of land is used to facilitate development in a steady but controlled manner until the final result is no more farmland whatsoever.  Look at Los Angeles, Toronto, and any major city in North America and decide what this will mean for the next 2, 3, and 4 generations to come. 

We are surrounded by such modern farming practices and I’m here to tell you that it is neither sustainable nor is it good for any community.  In fact it has put our entire future in great peril in terms of
• Food security for its reliance on fossil fuels
• Mono-crops for their vulnerability
It is a product and by-product of an industrialization of our food production and distribution that has resulted in a loss of individual farms, processing facilities, jobs, nutrition and health on all levels and worst of all, it has created needless dependency.

None of this speaks of community.  Indeed it is the undoing of nature, community, sustainability and food security.

Factor in the effects of climate change with what I refer to as the unholy trinity of Peak Oil, Peak Soil, and Peak Water and you have the scenario for an apocalyptic failure. 

It’s not a question of if people, just a question of when.

In the framework that is the ALR there is no room for sustainable farms or farmers markets.  These things exist in spite of and as an antidote to what the ALR really represents.  URBAN SPRAWL. 

What I’m proposing tonight is that we move on ways to let the Southlands return to the wild AND I propose we take back all the lands from the ALR and create a contingency plan much like the one the community has in place for disasters. 

We need to stop harmful agricultural practices and begin implementing modern agroforestry, permaculture, and biodynamic farming methods that will support and connect our community, that bring back the family farms along with processing facilities and jobs.  These practices increase soil levels and consumer choice with fresh, more nutritious food.
It’s possible. 

I’ll be happy to bring anyone up to speed on these topics.  There are hundreds of town councils worldwide that are implementing the Transition Towne model, moving their communities from oil dependency to local resilience.   Here in the lower mainland there’s even a network of people, finding blank stares and deaf ears from local government, they’ve begun pooling skills sets and coming up with solutions to the mess the system has brought upon us all by creating Villages within their own municipality using this model. Just google transition town Vancouver for info.

Elsewhere, like Detroit, communities have had to respond in these ways because of crisis.  Let’s not wait for that.

You want to be considered real visionaries, real leaders and have a street or rec center named after your posthumously? 

I guarantee this way will work.   At some point it’ll have to… 
Thank you.

Councillor Bruce McDonald gave a good chuckle at the rec center comment.  It was meant to be humourous.  :)