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Saving the Best Land in Canada: Crime, Policy and Food Security in the Agricultural Land Reserve | City Conversations

2018, Series City Conversations, Cities

Some of our country’s most productive soil lies in the delta of the Fraser River. The “Class 1” soils found here cover only 0.5 per cent of all land across Canada. As climate changes, this land will become even more valuable for growing our food. But current policies allow them to be built over, and with low tax rates because they’re ostensibly for farming. This land is increasingly being used to build “farmer’s houses” as large as 24,000 square feet, and there are reports that some of these houses have been sites of illegal activity.

This month, the Agricultural Land Commission is asking for your comments on changing the rules. How can we prevent misuse of this exceptional land? Is farming still conducive to a viable lifestyle?

To start the conversation, we’re honoured to have Councillor Harold Steves, a founder of the Agricultural Land Commission; Jack Trovato, community activist; and Anita Georgy, executive director at the Richmond Food Security Society. Then it’s your turn to ask questions, offer your opinions and make observations. It’s a conversation! Feel free to bring your lunch.

This SFU City Conversation is a presentation of SFU Public Square, sponsored by SFU Vancouver and SFU's City Program.

Thu, 19 Apr 2018

12:30 p.m. (PT)

SFU Vancouver at Harbour Centre
515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
Room 2270

We respectfully acknowledge that this event takes place on the unceded, traditional, ancestral territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm First Nations.

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