April marked the 52nd anniversary of the adoption of the Land Commission Act, which created British Columbia’s Agricultural Land Reserve. The legislation, which came into being under a BC New Democratic Party government, established a provincial designation that protected approximately 4.6 million hectares of agriculturally suitable land across the province.

The ALR legislation was immediately and decidedly controversial. Opposition Social Credit politicians criticized its scope and reach. For most of the five decades since, governments of a centre-right bent (whether Social Credit or BC Liberal) sought and sometimes implemented changes that had been championed by NDP administrations.

The province has been governed by the New Democrats since 2017. During this time, discussions about the ALR centred primarily on the construction of mansions in land that should have been used for agriculture production. The issue was still contentious, but not something that captured much attention from policy makers.

That was before the start of 2025. Fewer than six months have passed since the second........

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