By Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart
Being a farmer or a rancher is a tough job. It requires long hours, hard work, and an almost constant battle with the environment and elements. Sadly, 2021 brought an unprecedented number of challenges to the Fraser-Nicola region and the hundreds of ranchers and farmers who call this place home.
The heat dome and horrific wildfire season devastated crops, destroyed ranch lands, killed livestock, and forced thousands to evacuate and leave behind everything they had worked so hard to build. Many of these same farmers and ranchers then experienced tremendous devastation from the floods that took place just a few months later.
Now many are faced with hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs to repair and rebuild everything they lost. Many are concerned with the rollout of our provincial government’s financial supports, and are unsure whether they will be able to get the help they need.
We have already heard from some farmers and ranchers who applied for Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) that they did not meet the requirements because their farms are incorporated and bring in more than $1 million in annual sales. With private insurance and DFA near exhaustion, the Province and Ottawa have yet to clearly map out the timeline and eligibility requirements for the Agri-Recovery relief program. Many ranchers fear that they will be expected to incur the recovery costs themselves and be reimbursed by the ministry at a much later date.
My colleagues and I in the BC Liberal caucus have been listening to these concerns from our local farmers and ranchers and are raising them to the NDP government. My friend and MLA for Delta South Ian Paton — a generational farmer himself — recently wrote a letter to the Minister of Agriculture calling for more clarity and a clear plan forward with the Agri-Recovery package.
Considering how much our farmers and ranchers have done for our province, we must support their recovery in every way possible.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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