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EDITORIAL
Friday, April 12, 2013 - PENINSULA
NEWS REVIEW
Jim Parker Publisher Steven Heywood Editor Janice Marshall Production Manager Bruce Hogarth Circulation Manager
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OUR VIEW
Housing issue election fodder
People working with Greater Victoria’s street population have said for years that having a roof over a person’s head is the first and best hand up toward a healthier life. That message is clearly getting through, as the results of a Coalition to End Homelessness survey of area residents show. A vast majority of respondents agreed that more affordable housing would reduce homelessness, but also agreed that government is in the best position to ensure access to such housing. Experience has shown that housing people can save money in the long run, as opposed to covering the health and policing costs associated with a larger street population. And Greater Victoria is chipping away at its homelessness problem by creating housing affordable at every level. That said, the Coalition’s decision to release their survey results on the eve of the 2013 provincial election campaign was a good way to place the ongoing problem onto the front burner for candidates. With few specific local issues having yet emerged, other than the general dissatisfaction of some with government, hearing MLA hopefuls of all political stripes talk about how they might fight homelessness could help make the campaign a little more interesting. The issue of homelessness is by no means specific to Greater Victoria, but there is a definite history to how the Liberal government has approached the problem. In the early 2000s the province did little to provide incentives or funding to help belowmarket rate housing projects get built in our region, claiming the financial responsibility lay with federal or local governments. Local jurisdictions and private developers became tired of waiting for funding from upper levels of government, rolled up their sleeves and found ways to get people off the streets and housed. The province, through B.C. Housing, has gradually loosened the purse strings and provided funding to ease the burden on local governments and developers. We look forward to more of that kind of co-operation happening, regardless of who forms the next B.C. government.
What do you think? Give us your comments by e-mail: editor@peninsulanewsreview.com or fax 250-656-5526. All letters must have a name and a telephone number for verification. The Peninsula News Review is a member of the British Columbia Press Council, a self-regulatory body governing the province’s newspaper industry. The council considers complaints from the public about the conduct of member newspapers. If talking with the editor or publisher does not resolve your complaint about coverage or story treatment, you may contact the B.C. Press Council. Your written concern, with documentation, should be sent to B.C. Press Council, 201 Selby St., Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 2R2. For information, phone 888-687-2213 or go to www.bcpresscouncil.org.
2010
Farmland could produce once again A
One acre of farmland intensively ccording to the American managed can produce $40,000 Farmland Trust, the U.S. is worth of food per year, which, if losing farmland at a rate consumed locally, would of one acre per minute. also reduce the negative “America’s cities sprang environmental impact up where the land was associated with food the richest. Today, the transportation. farms closest to our When confronted with urban areas produce an these concerns, many astounding 91 per cent development proponents of our fruit and 78 per are quick to say that cent of our vegetables, “nobody is wanting to but they remain the develop agricultural most threatened … land,” and while some say Farmland that has the Bernadette they feel strongly about ideal combination of Greene protecting ALR land, they good soils, climate and Guest column seem to have no problem growing conditions – with putting higher [is] being converted at densities on land zoned agricultural. a disproportionately higher rate.” Take, for example, the Reay Given that most of our food comes Creek Meadows proposal. The from the U.S. those are alarming proponents plan to take six lots,13.5 statistics, but I suspect that those acres zoned Rural Agricultural, for Vancouver Island would not be rezone it Comprehensive much different. Development and build a total of Fifty years ago, Vancouver Island 114 units. The application for 9395 produced more than 50 per cent of East Saanich Road also proposes its own food; now that number is building 40 units on four acres less than 10 per cent. Not only is zoned Rural Agricultural. this a potential food security crisis, The RCM land is flat and mostly but it’s also a missed economic cleared, was once in the ALR and opportunity. currently has some agricultural The average B.C. resident spends $260 per month on food. With about activity on it. The soil is rated Class 3, supporting a fairly wide range 11,500 people living in Sidney, and approximately that many also living of crops and, with some drainage, could be improved to Class 2, in North Saanich, that adds up to supporting an even wider range of more than 70 million food dollars crops. More importantly, the lots per year spent by those residents, are small, making them affordable with a significant proportion of that to young farmers wanting to expenditure going to the U.S. and acquire good farmland in this area. Mexico, where most of our food However, that land, once approved comes from.
for development, is estimated to be worth $19 million, much more than its value as farmland. When it comes to protecting ALR land, it’s easy to be in favour of it when you’re not allowed to develop it. But what if it were no longer protected by the Agricultural Land Commission? Have you driven past the airport lately? That land is in the ALR, but because it’s federal land, those ALR restrictions are pretty much ignored. Only a few years ago, a local farmer was haying that land, but these days the major crop there is large warehouses. So, while some may say that developers are not “coming after our agricultural land,” it seems that that is mainly what they are coming after. With the population of the planet expected to reach 10 billion by the end of this century, how long can we count on other countries to provide our food? We have everything we need here to feed ourselves and provide meaningful work and economic growth. With good planning, we can accommodate more people here and feed them as well. It’s not selfish or backward-looking to plan for the future food security of our children and grandchildren. Saving our agricultural land for future use is akin to setting aside money now in an RRSP or pension: it’s merely prudent and responsible to do so. Bernadette Greene is a market gardener, North Saanich native and fourth-generation grower.
‘It’s not selfish or backward-looking to plan for the future food security.’