Press Release for Public Meeting

Hello,
I am writing to let you know about a very important public meeting regarding BC Assessment and Saanich Farmers this Friday night. We are holding this public meeting to communicate with BC Assessment and our Government that the process they are following is wrong. We will have a panel of speakers that range from farmers to local government to BC Government. Please see the public invitation below for more details. We will be asking for a moratorium on the 2008 property taxes for the 98 split farms in Saanich.

This meeting has caught the eye of our BC Government and they are not taking this situation lightly. They are expecting the press to be at this meeting and I hope that you all can make it.

Here are the speakers:

I have the Land Conservancy (Ramona Scott), Alistair Bryson (farmer and councillor in Central Saanich), David Cubberley, Saanich Councillor Bob Gillespie, Bob Maxwell (Penn Agricultural Commission), Kathleen Gibson (Food Security CR Fair), Saanich Councillor Vic Derman, and Ministry of Agriculture and Lands Brent Warner. They will be given 2 minutes to speak. I will be moderating. Then the public is welcome to speak. Again a 2 min max. I am hoping that the message that is sent is that we accept the review. But in the meantime we want a Moratorium on these taxes. Minister Thorpe will have sent a statement for me to read and I have asked the same of the BC Assessment.

BC Assessment will not attend and they are expressing to callers that the issue has been cleared up....far from the truth. Call them and see what they tell you.......they are prepared for the press calls and are defusing the situation. The situation is explained below.

We are expecting a huge turnout as this sets a precedent for the rest of the province. It really is a provincial issue.


This is the invitation I have sent out to the public:

Hello,

As you all know we are facing a crisis in Saanich regarding how our Non ALR Farms are being assessed by BC Assessment. We are holding a public meeting on Friday Jan 18th at 7pm.

What do we need?

We need a show of community support.

We want BC Assessment to know that splitting working farms up into different tax brackets is unacceptable. We want BC Assessment to know that forest lands are an important part of our farms. We want them to know that natural habitats are critical to our ever threatened environment. We want them to acknowledge our farms as whole farms and not split operations.

98 farms in Saanich are being reclassified as split farms and have been asked to pay residential taxes on all non-farmed areas. Minister Thorpe made a public announcement in December letting us all know that the BC Assessment farm status assessment process will be reviewed this year. He said that by committing to this review, it shows that our government is recognizing the importance of agriculture. He also stated that he hoped BC Assessment would work with farmers to find a resolution to this situation. But is seems that as far as BC Assessment is concerned....it is business as usual. Tax assessments have gone out with the split-farm assessments in place which was expected. One certified organic farm has seen an increase from $328,000 to $816,000. They have been assessed residential taxes on their forest areas. It is now up to farmers to appeal their assessments. It seems that BC Assessment is acting as if farmers are guilty until proven innocent. This is no way to acknowledge the value of our farmers.

Please come to our public meeting to show your support for local agriculture. Come and show your support for protection of our natural areas.

When: Friday Jan 18th, 2008
Time: 7pm
Where: Prospect Lake Elementary School Gym




And this is the letter I have sent to our Ministries:



Dear Minister Bell and Minister Thorpe,

I am very happy that there will be a review panel for the current BC Assessment farm assessment process.

Although I have been corresponding with Minister Thorpe's office on this issue, I would like to ask if Minister Bell is involved with regards to the terms of reference. It is sometimes difficult to understand the responsibilities of the current Ministries but I have not seen any public statements from Minister Bell. Perhaps I have simply missed seeing them.

I am very hopeful that this review will bring about a progressive approach to the way that small farms are assessed. I do not have to tell you that small farms are increasingly important to our local food system.

I am sure that you are both aware of the public meeting in Saanich coming up on Friday, Jan, 18th. This meeting is very important to the farmers of Saanich and elsewhere. We have had a giant response from the public. During this meeting we are hoping to convey that we are in support of a review. We commend our government for making such an announcement in December.

But, we are also strongly in favour of a moratorium on the 2008 farm taxes for the 98 split farms in Saanich, until this review is finished.

I believe this is reasonable and fair.

I am hoping to be a part of the review process and hope that both of your Ministries are working together to find a fair outcome. I am also hoping that BC Assessment begins to work with farmers in a way that is productive and positive.

The face of farming is changing. It is time that BC Assessment acknowledges this and I am hopeful they will.

I am happy to meet with you at any time to discuss this situation.

Cheers,
Lana Popham





Barking Dog Vineyard
Certified Organic
6170 Old West Saanich Road
Victoria, B.C. , V9E 2G8
250-652-4110 barkingdog@shaw.ca
www.lanapopham.ca
www.barkingdogvineyard.ca