Green Party leader Andrew Weaver says the province has to do a better job helping farmers and protecting farmland in B.C.

Weaver, who was in Kelowna Sunday and Monday, toured a small cidery in the Glenmore Valley on Monday and said he feels farmers have not been well-served by 16 years of B.C. Liberal government.

害羞草研究所淔armer害羞草研究所檚 can害羞草研究所檛 get on the land because the land value is so high,害羞草研究所� said Weaver. 害羞草研究所淭here is a role for government, to ensure (young farmers) have access to the land so they can farm.害羞草研究所�

The B.C. Green Party leader said B.C. has a problem with what it sees as agriculture land in this province being used in a 害羞草研究所渟peculative real estate sector.害羞草研究所�

And a B.C. Green government would address that, vowed Weaver.

He said foreign ownership害羞草研究所敽π卟菅芯克鶞by people who do not live and pay taxes in Canada害羞草研究所澓π卟菅芯克鶖 should be limited to no more than five acres of B.C. agricultural land.

害羞草研究所淏.C. is the wild west in every aspect of everything,害羞草研究所� he said, adding there are limits to how much productive farm land foreign buyers can own in many other provinces.

害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 the right thing to do because ultimately, you cannot have your food-producing regions potentially at the whim of speculators in other areas.害羞草研究所�

Speaking at the Scenic Road Cider Company, a small two-year-old craft cidery in the heart the Kelowna-Lake Country riding害羞草研究所攁 riding represented for the last eight years by current B.C. Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick害羞草研究所擶eaver took direct aim at how the Liberals have handled agriculture while in power.

Asked if the Liberals had let down farmers Weaver, replied: 害羞草研究所淵es, I would say absolutely.害羞草研究所�

He called recent changes to the Agricultural Land Reserve brought in by Letnick that created a two-tier system, where development would be allowed on less productive agriculture land that is currently in the ALR 害羞草研究所渙utrageous,害羞草研究所� and simply a ploy to allow fracking and gas exploration on agricultural land in Northern B.C.

害羞草研究所淚t has nothing to do with the preservation of agricultural land in B.C.,害羞草研究所� said Weaver.

Speaking with B.C. Green candidate Alison Shaw by his side害羞草研究所攕he害羞草研究所檚 running against Letnick in Kelowna-Lake Country害羞草研究所擶eaver also said his party would focus on regional development offices to help young families get into farming in a similar way tech incubators help technology companies get off the ground.

害羞草研究所淲e have an aging farming population and that害羞草研究所檚 not healthy. We need to get young people back in to view farming as a career.害羞草研究所�

With federal plans to legalize the recreational use of marijuana coming next year and the downloading of much of the responsibility for that onto the provinces, Weaver said B.C. must protect what he called its 害羞草研究所渃raft害羞草研究所� marijuana industry, in a similar way to how craft beer production and craft ciders are dealt with.

害羞草研究所淭here害羞草研究所檚 billions of dollars of revenue potentially,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淚f those revenues are managed properly.害羞草研究所�

On Sunday, Weaver at a Kelowna hotel before attending the Kelowna Rockets-Seattle Thunderbirds WHL game at Prospera Place later that evening.

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