Firstly, thank you for listening to all of our concerns regarding the changes to Bill 52. I could tell that you at least heard us regarding housing, and that is a great first step. I would like to see the other issues that we addressed also brought to light and here’s why.
The timing of this bill has not been in our favour and has significantly impacted our family. We even held off building this spring in order to wait for the new rules to be set in stone so we could make the wisest financial choice for us. And now we are all in the middle of a pandemic. This sort of situation is EXACTLY why we bought the acreage. This pandemic shines a light on why housing, food, value-added items like agri-tourism, and the ability to do other work on farm is so important. We want to be self-reliant.
We saw the writing on the wall and prepped our own food supply long before others were hoarding toilet paper due to coronavirus. I’ve been nervously watching the food supply, realizing that there will continue to be shortages. Unfortunately, many people are not prepared for major situations and react in a fear-based manner. I don’t blame them. We all should be prepared. But, it’s not just viruses, diseases and disasters that are causing food shortages. Over the last few years I’ve been seeing empty produce shelves because of Listeria or other contaminates. When one product is pulled, they all seem to be pulled. Why is that? Is that because of cross contamination at the packaging facilities? I’d rather eat fresh produce from my own garden or from a local farm.
What do I suggest people do? Put in Victory gardens. While we may not be at war, it certainly feels like we are headed for a recession. After all, you don’t need to be in the ALR to grow your own food; many urban front yards have earth even more suitable for farming than some ALR land. If you have a yard, you can rip out the grass and grow your own food. You don’t even need your own yard. You can grow lots of nutrient dense food right in your house such as micro-greens or mushrooms.
Oh, and everyone should be allowed to have backyard chickens, providing they have the room. If the grocery stores are limiting (rationing) the amount of egg cartons we can buy, we should be able to provide our own. In war times you were expected to keep your own hens. (I hope you are addressing farming communities such as Mission who have the most bizarre rules for farming, no roosters? No goats, but cows??? Seriously; let’s not make this hard on farmers.)
Yesterday I received the bad news that my employment like many other Canadians had been terminated because of Covid 19. I wasn’t shocked, I knew that it must be coming….but it’s another reminder of how important it is to be self reliant.
Why did I mention all of this above?
We wanted to start building this spring actually, but we weren’t sure if the ALC would retract Bill 52 or not. Then, we saw the Ministry of Agriculture’s (MOA) Policy Intentions Paper: Residential Flexibility in the ALR (2020). It was an improvement from the complete changes Bill 52 had (which we do appreciate in many ways). But, now you’re asking for more public input, giving everyone until today, April 17th to respond. So then, how much longer is this going to take? We need to build now! And now we are in the middle of a pandemic! This could not be worse timing. We just don’t know what is going to happen, and we need to make sure we are making the wisest decisions we can with the options given to us.
I was really excited about the new intentions paper, but the one thing that really bothered me is that it seems to leave secondary housing up to the discretion of the local government. It can NOT be up to the discretion of the local government, we need to write that this is an ALC/ALR rule that is above the local government rules, because if you don’t, who knows how long it will take to be approved, if it is approved at all.
I love that you heard us when we asked for other options for secondary housing (or 3rd, 4th, etc… if needed) guest house, cabins, carriage houses, cottages, manufactured homes etc. I very much support opening up the choices and the options given.
I support that all properties in the ALR may have both a principal residence and a detached secondary residence of at least 1200 feet. I hope that both of my children will want to take over the property one day, and they may want to have a family of their own.
Like the previous manufactured home option, there should be no applications to the ALC for the detached secondary residence.
In addition to the detached secondary residences, we request that suites above existing buildings be permitted as they were in the ALCA prior to the implementation of Bill 52. There should be no restrictions on who occupies these residences.
Aside from this, I wish to express my concern that the restriction of housing to the clause “necessary for farm use” continues to be a problem. The term ‘farm use’ is still not clear to applicants and the ALC seems to be able to interpret it differently in different scenarios. This lack of consistency and clear standards is problematic and I request the Ministry rectify this so residents can make informed decisions with their properties and agricultural business plans.
I also feel that you should not remove the option to have a manufactured home until the above positive changes have been made and amended in all local governments. Please extend the current deadline for permits, as many will not be able to continue as planned because of the pandemic. When we bought our property it was allowed to have two homes, this is partly why we bought it, future planning, and as many know, these changes created a great distress to my family and many other families when it was no longer a viable option.
The local government can also restrict farm agri-tourism (farm stays etc..) in some areas as they never amended their bylaws to include them. That is not fair either, please amend. We all need to be on a level playing field. We all need to be able to make a living on our properties, so we can stay on our properties and have a decent living.
This pandemic should be opening everyone’s eyes about how important this bill is. People want local food–so give us a fair shot at making a living trying to do that. And that starts with giving our families, our volunteers and our workers a basic need: shelter.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Pynn
Becky is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Landscape & Production Horticulturist, Arborist and budding Herbalist, who recognizes and specializes in the link between healthy soil, the gut and the brain. She also loves being the mom to her two wild and crazy kids Brooke & Connor whom keep her and her ever loving, creative husband Jay on their toes.
Becky is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Landscape & Production Horticulturist, Arborist and budding Herbalist, who recognizes and specializes in the link between healthy soil, the gut and the brain. She also loves being the mom to her two wild and crazy kids Brooke & Connor whom keep her and her ever loving, creative husband Jay on their toes.
Design by NXNW.
