Whereas currently only the Agriculture Land Commissions ALC Chief Executive Officer has the authority to issue an Administrative Penalty i.e. financial penalty against an individual or company found to be in noncompliance with the Agricultural Land Commission Act and associated regulations; And whereas currently ALC Compliance and Enforcement staff do not have the authority to ticket and fine an individual or company found to be in non-compliance with the ALC Act and associated regulations; And whereas providing additional administrative tools to ALC Compliance and Enforcement staff in order to obtain compliance will provide the potential to obtain compliance faster and at less cost to the Government of British Columbia: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the Government of British Columbia to authorize that Agricultural Land Commission Compliance and Enforcement staff be provided the authority to individually ticket and fine property owners and others responsible for the unauthorized filling of lands within the Agricultural Land Reserve and other issues of non-compliance related to the Agricultural Land Commission Act and associated regulations.
Ministry of Agriculture and Food Thank you for the resolution regarding expanded ticketing authority for the ALC Compliance and Enforcement staff. The Province appreciates the intent behind this proposal and shares the goal of ensuring timely and effective responses to noncompliance within the Agricultural Land Reserve ALR. While several provincial agencies do have ticketing authority, this tool is used infrequently due to significant limitations, including: - Ticket amounts are typically capped at 5001,000. - Subsequent tickets for the same violation cannot be increased; each ticket must remain the same amount. - Tickets may be appealed, often requiring substantial staff time and legal resources that exceed the value of the ticket itself. - If noncompliance continues after a ticket is issued, an administrative penalty may follow; however, the penalty cannot exceed ten times the ticket amount e.g., a 500 ticket limits the subsequent penalty to 5,000. Courts have found penalties above this threshold to be overly punitive. - Ticketing is not always an effective deterrent, particularly when the noncompliant activity is financially lucrative, such as illegal land filling. In such cases, some offenders may simply treat a ticket as a cost of doing business. Because of these limitations, most enforcement agencies rely primarily on administrative penalties rather than ticketing. Under section 54 of the ALCA, the ALC already has the authority to issue administrative penalties, which provide a more effective compliance tool. Administrative penalties: - Can be issued in amounts up to 100,000 - May be doubled for repeat violations up to 200,000 - Are significantly more likely to influence behaviour and deter ongoing noncompliance Given these factors, administrative penalties remain the most effective mechanism for addressing unauthorized land filling and other contraventions of the ALCA. However, we appreciate the concerns raised in this resolution and remain committed to supporting strong, efficient enforcement that protects the integrity of the ALR.