Whereas the Agricultural Land Commission ALC is the administrative tribunal that adjudicates applications in the Agricultural Land Reserve ALR, the provincial zone in British Columbia that preserves agricultural land; And whereas the ALC ultimately determines the usage of the ALR land, taking precedence over other legislation and bylaws applying to the land; And whereas the responsibility for ALC decisions, including rectifying violations and enforcing decisions, often falls to local governments, regardless of whether the local government supports the decision, which transfers provincial responsibilities and costs down to local government: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM lobby the Government of British Columbia to assume responsibility for the enforcement of Agricultural Land Commission ALC decisions and any local government costs incurred as a result of ALC decisions.
Ministry of Agriculture and Food The Agricultural Land Commission ALC is an independent administrative tribunal that has responsibility for enforcing decisions that it makes. The Agricultural Land Commission Act and its regulations provide local governments with the authority to refuse to forward applications to the ALC that relate to lands zoned to permit farming or applications that would require an amendment to the Official Community Plan. Local governments are encouraged to use this authority to ensure that only applications they fully support are sent to the ALC for decision-making. The ALC and several local governments have active joint enforcement initiatives, such as addressing illegal fill on the Agricultural Land Reserve ALR, that are resulting in administrative monetary penalties and remediation orders being issued. The ALC encourages local governments to engage directly with them to explore initiating more joint initiatives to better leverage available resources. Cooperative enforcement actions between the ALC and local governments is an integral component of effective regulation of land use in the ALR. Both agencies have different enforcement tools that can be used in conjunction to achieve compliance. Through cooperation, the ALC and local governments can work together toward the common goal of protecting the ALR.