Part A: Ministry of Agriculture and Lands — Continued

Strategic Context

The Ministry operates within a broad context of external agriculture, aquaculture, food industry and Crown land administration factors. During the past year a number of these strategic factors have had an impact on Ministry program areas:

Broader public health and food system threats (e.g., foreign animal and plant diseases and invasive species): B.C. saw an outbreak of Avian Influenza in the Lower Mainland in 2005/06. It was quickly contained and posed only minor risks to human health and market access.

International trade agreements and practices: The 2004/05 BSE outbreak continued to have an impact on trade with key export markets through the first half of 2005/06. However, in August 2005 the U.S. re-opened their border to young Canadian livestock, allowing imports of cattle and bison less than 30 months of age, and goats and sheep less than 12 months old. Overall, there continues to be an international commitment to substantially reduce subsidies to level the international playing field and improve market access, which presents both opportunities and challenges for the industry.

Interest and foreign exchange rates: Canada's dollar continued to increase in value relative to the U.S. This has a negative impact on the competitiveness of B.C. food producers in international markets — particularly the U.S., which is B.C.'s largest export market — but a positive impact in moderating input costs priced in U.S. dollars.

Commodity markets (e.g., cattle, grain, oil, silver): Commodity prices for agricultural and aquaculture products produced in B.C. have not increased significantly — the price for cattle, in particular, has not returned to pre-BSE levels. At the same time, strong commodity markets for oil and gas have increased fuel and fertilizer costs dramatically, causing distress in some sectors and reducing overall profitability. Strong commodity prices also continue to drive demand for rights to Crown land resources.

First Nations: Recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions concerning First Nations consultation and accommodation have had a major impact on the Ministry. This has had a significant impact on Ministry workloads, and in some circumstances, has resulted in time delays in land adjudication and aquaculture decisions.

Urban/agriculture divide: As populations continue to grow, many B.C. cities and towns are encroaching upon areas that were once predominantly rural and agricultural in nature. This has placed greater pressure on the agriculture and food sectors especially in areas where urban centres have developed next to intensive agricultural operations.

Size and scale of the agriculture and food industry: B.C. has a significantly high proportion of small-sized farm businesses compared to the rest of Canada. The smaller size of many of these operations means that they face unique challenges in raising capital. On the other hand, the size allows many to develop and apply innovative practices.

Environmental sustainability trends and issues: Generally, British Columbians continue to expect that the agriculture and food sectors and users of Crown land adopt and maintain practices that provide sustainable benefits. There remains an expectation that all disposition of Crown land will meet high standards for environmental sustainability while providing significant benefits to the public.

Client service expectations: The public continued to expect improvements in government services through horizontal and vertical integration that stresses client service and cooperation.

Weather conditions/climate change: While the agriculture and food sector is vulnerable to weather-related risks, 2005/06 was a relatively good year, with frost and hail damage contributing to the most significant losses for the industry. Climate change continued to have an impact on Crown land resources through increased frequency and intensity of forest fires.

Regulatory environment: New health safety regulations for the meat industry will be effective September 2007, which may pose additional costs for doing business for producers while supporting new market opportunities.

Market trends: The high cost of oil has created an economic impetus for biofuel production (i.e., ethanol derived from grain), which could potentially have a positive impact on sector farm income. However, these opportunities will be dependent on a number of factors, including the cost of production of grain and other feed stocks in competing countries, U.S. subsidy levels as well as support in major countries for meeting stated targets for inclusion of biofuels in transportation fuels by regulation or other methods.

Shared jurisdiction and interests: Stakeholders and various levels of governments, including the federal government, other provinces and local governments, share the Ministry's mandate. First Nations, in particular, have a strong interest in the province's resources which has recently been recognized in the New Relationship and which forms the basis of the methodological changes from consultation to partnership in the administration of Crown land. Effective relations among these groups are an ongoing challenge and essential to achieving the interests of B.C.'s food, agriculture and aquaculture sectors and Crown land administration.

Specific risks and opportunities as they relate to each strategy are further outlined in the Report on Performance section.

Capacity to Manage Risks

The Ministry has implemented many strategies to ensure that the agriculture, aquaculture and food systems are safe, incorporate good environmental practices and are competitive. These range from surveillance to emergency response programs for foreign animal and plant diseases and invasive species. To further strengthen these systems, tracking and traceability systems are in place for finfish aquaculture and the Ministry is currently supporting the development of similar tracking and traceability systems for other food industries, beginning with livestock. To help ensure the sectors continue to show healthy growth into the future, the Ministry, in partnership with the federal government, delivers business risk management programs to mitigate risks associated with income and weather-related losses. These programs have high participation rates, reducing demands for ad hoc funding from government. Looking forward, the government is in the process of developing an agriculture plan for B.C. to establish a long-term vision for agriculture that will sustain and facilitate the sector's growth, innovation and diversification.

Government has also assigned responsibility for Crown land administration to the Ministry. This brings a cross government perspective to administering Crown land, which helps ensure all land-use related policy decisions are directed towards a common vision. In managing contaminated sites the Ministry has adopted a similar corporate-wide approach that ensures the highest risks are addressed.

The Ministry relies heavily on partnerships with the federal government, industry, First Nations and other government agencies, in terms of funding, collaboration and service delivery to implement these strategies. Most of these relationships are well established and supported through formal agreements. One of the more significant partnerships is represented by the Agricultural Policy Framework, which ends in March 2008. The Ministry is working with federal-provincial-territorial partners to identify opportunities to improve future arrangements with the federal government.

Government's Five Great Goals

The Ministry of Agriculture and Lands supports government's Five Great Goals, which are to:

  1. Make British Columbia the best-educated, most literate jurisdiction on the continent.
  2. Lead the way in North America in healthy living and physical fitness.
  3. Build the best system of support in Canada for persons with disabilities, those with special needs, children at risk, and seniors.
  4. Lead the world in sustainable environmental management, with the best air and water quality, and the best fisheries management, bar none.
  5. Create more jobs per capita than anywhere else in Canada.

The work of the Ministry directly contributes to the achievement of these goals, with the exception of government's Great Goal 3. Ministry activities that supported achievement of government's goals are listed below.

Government's Great Goal 1

The Ministry contributes to the government's goal for improving literacy by:

  • Encouraging research and innovation and partnership between industry, research facilities and universities.
  • Improving access to information for producers and the public, which helps to address the challenge of focusing research and development investment for the benefit of the sector.
  • Committing to implement an innovative extension program in the B.C. Interior that will improve knowledge transfer and increase youth involvement in the sector through co-op work terms.

Government's Great Goal 2

The Ministry contributes to the government's goal for healthy living by:

  • Working with industry and other government agencies to ensure prevention, preparedness and response plans and measures for farm and food production systems support public health and safety goals.
  • Providing educational programs in the classroom and other venues so that children today begin to make the food choices needed for a healthy tomorrow.
  • Actively supporting labeling and assurance/certification initiatives so that the public and consumers are provided with information to support wise choices — e.g., information on quality assurance, organic production and environmentally sound production.
  • Encouraging industry to raise public awareness of the role food plays in maintaining health, to produce more healthy food products, and to increase distribution of healthy food products to all regions of the province.

Government's Great Goal 4

The Ministry contributes to the government's goal for sustainable environmental management by:

  • Facilitating industry, producers and farmers to adopt environmentally sound management practices.
  • Working with farm communities and local governments to manage the urban/agriculture divide.
  • Facilitating the remediation of contaminated sites of high risk.
  • Continuing to work towards developing a comprehensive policy framework for the administration and allocation of Crown land that balances economic and environmental considerations.

Government's Great Goal 5

The Ministry contributes to the government's goal for job creation by:

  • Continuing to participate in international and national trade negotiations to improve market access and reduce trade barriers faced by the industry.
  • Strengthening the agriculture and food sectors by promoting long-term strategic planning and providing liaison services to enhance awareness of potential new markets and foreign investment opportunities in the sectors.
  • Ensuring stability of primary production with programs that help individuals manage unpredictable and uncontrollable risks.
  • Remediation of contaminated sites so that these valuable lands can be put back into productive use.
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