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VOL. 102 NO. 10
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Mother’s milk rocks The 14th anniversary of the Breastfeeding Challenge in Quesnel saw 26 mothers and babies join the effort to have the most babies breastfeeding at the same time, 11 a.m., Oct. 3. For more pictures and story see Friday’s Observer. Annie Gallant photo
Foreign land purchases continue despite promises to cease AUTUMN MacDONALD Observer Reporter After they stated they would halt land purchases until further investigation, they did it anyway. Independent MLA Vicky Huntington revealed the documentation of land purchased by UK company Reckitt Benckiser (RB Group) late last week. The documents show RB bought an additional 794 acres of farm land, 50 kilometres west of Dawson
Creek for $1 million, July 7. This is three weeks after the company publicly stated they would put their land sales on hold until a full preview was conducted after public outcry. “The public needs to know if RB is continuing to buy B.C. farmland despite its promises and whether the provincial government will do anything to step up and protect B.C. farmers and our productive farmland,” Huntington said.
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“The Minister of Agriculture has consistently been wrong about this practice and the public deserves clear answers.” In May, the B.C. government spoke to farmland being purchased by foreign companies in exchange for carbon credits, noting a far greater hectare amount than originally thought. Initially government acknowledged 1,500 hectares of agriculture land reserve were being breached,
then upon the opposition’s request, an additional 8,000 hectares was discovered. Upon hearing the concerns of Cariboo residents, NDP agriculture critic Lana Popham held an open house in the Gold Pan City to further gather information. “The main thing we’re hearing from farmers is this legislation is essentially stealing food security,” she told the Observer in May.
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Popham also spoke to the manner in which the trees are planted, noting the close proximity, the lack of after-care and the method of leaving large divots in the soil, creating a hazard for farm animals and wildlife. The agriculture critic also noted the use of pesticides, water consumption and the 100-year land covenant. That’s when RB said they would work with communities or
cease operations. “RB said they were going to stop,” Coun. Scott Elliott said. “And we all thought they would.” However Elliott, who has been listening to the concerns of local farmers, said when he questioned the Minister of Agriculture if there was any guarantee the company would not buy the land he was told “of course they can.” “And it appears they have,” Elliott said.
EARLY DEADLINES
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, we have early deadlines for all advertising for the October 14th Edition.
October 14 issue CLASSIFIED DISPLAY, WORD AND RETAIL DISPLAY AD DEADLINE:
4:00 pm – Thursday, October 8
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