The MLA for Kamloops South, and Community Affairs critic, is calling the provincial government changes to ALR legislation “outrageous.”
Todd Stone says the change requires landowners to surrender the right to champion an ALR exclusion application to their local government.
He notes it’s a classic case of downloading not only the cost, but also labour onto local governments.
“I have been on the phone this week and late last week talking with a number of mayors and regional district elected officials,” Stone said. “And yes, there is a very significant concern amongst locally elected officials that there is going to be a significant increase in workload that they are going to be facing.”
The contentious part of the legislative change means only the province, local governments or ‘a prescribed public body’ can apply to the Agriculture Land Commission for an exclusion of farmland.
Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian also expressed some concerns about the proposed changes.