Farming is essential to any society, and the right to farm is enshrined in British Columbia's laws under the Farm Practices Protection (Right to Farm) Act. Farmers are supposed to be protected from complaining neighbours and government interference. However, in practice, farmers are being harassed and raided by bylaw and police and dragged into court for farming and housing farm workers. Confusing and overlapping laws are causing farmers hardship and are forcing farmers off their land in BC. If the government of BC wants to ensure our farmland is preserved and that farming is encouraged, then it must allow farmers to farm. With so many overlapping local and provincial laws, farmers can barely do a thing without government and police interference. Furthermore, we are in the unceded territories of the W̱SÁNEĆ nations. The ancient Indigenous laws that govern the obligation to provide shelter and care for others should be respected. The right of hospitality is also an ancient principal of other cultures, including Greek, Roman, and Anglo-Saxon societies. Farmers should not be persecuted for taking care of their families and farm workers so that they all have safe, secure and affordable housing.

We, the undersigned, call on the government of British Columbia to defend the right to farm by:

1. Urging the Premier to force the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) and local governments, such as the District of Saanich, to drop the legal cases against farmers.
2. Mandating that local governments use the alternative dispute resolution mechanisms already available instead of court actions if there is real a problem at a farm.
3. Mandating that local government bylaw and police enforcement discourage the practice of neighbours acting as "informants" about possible bylaw violations on private property. 
4. Mandating that local governments only enter onto and into private property, like farms, if there are 'reasonable and probable grounds’ to believe there is a significant issue. Let farmers farm and leave the rest of us to live in peace. 
5. Clarifying the ALC regulations, Act, and policies to provide clear and easily understandable guidelines for farmers to follow. Mandating which local bylaws apply to landowners in the ALR and those that do not so that farmers and even the ALC themselves, are easily able to determine permitted uses in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). Restrictions and prohibitions over what farmers can do on their land are effectively a regulatory taking (aka expropriation) by the government and should not be allowed. 
6. Clarifying the process for removal and placement of soil on farmland. It appears that three different ministries and local governments and Indigenous Peoples in unceded traditional territories have jurisdiction in this area. Farmers need soil and should not have to hire legal counsel to navigate complicated government processes. This deters from farming, is very prohibitive and is not in keeping with the rule of law, nor traditional Indigenous laws in regards to the safekeeping the land for future generations.  Farmers are being denied approvals for remediating their land and are being slapped with hefty fines if they attempt to do so.
7. Enforcing the laws consistently and fairly, regardless of local political pressure from 'neighbour informants.’ 
8. Recognizing the inherent jurisdiction of Indigenous Peoples  such that all laws of BC align with the traditional laws of the Indigenous Peoples, in particular the laws that encourage people to take care of each other and to give one another shelter. 

This petition aims to get the message to the BC government that we insist on the rule of law in BC. All of us should be treated equally under the law. Farmers should not have to defend their right to farm in court and prove they are farming. If there is a problem at a farm, local governments should use alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, as mandated by the BC government. Courts should not be determining whether something is a 'normal farm practice.' That's what the Farm Industry Review Board does.

Please support our efforts to defend our right to farm by signing this petition and writing to the Premier of BC.

Write to the Premier of BC:

https://twitter.com/dave_eby 

Mail: Office of the Premier
PO BOX 9041 STN Prov. Govt.
Victoria, BC  V8W 9E1
Phone: 250-387-1715
Email: premier@gov.bc.ca