Dear James Mack,

Less than a week after we spoke to you about our ALR concerns at the ALC meeting in Delta, my husband, Jay, almost died due to the stress of this situation. If you don’t remember us, I was the one very nervous to speak. Jay was the one with the service dog, a cute standard poodle named Oslo. You asked me to write to you about how the recent ALR changes affect us. I’m sorry it took so long, but I was a little preoccupied. So, here we go.

We bought our dream property in 2016. It was a very heated market and we paid way more than we wanted. But, we were okay with overpaying a bit for our forever property. After all, we weren’t going anywhere and we weren’t going to be sitting on the land as speculators. We knew that when we were gone, we could leave our kids with a little slice of paradise to call their own.

Jay is on permanent disability because of his epilepsy. It took him well over a decade to apply for disability, not because he shouldn’t have, but because he is stubborn and not one who likes to be reliant on the system. However, as a massage therapist, having seizures at the workplace became an issue. The day finally came when he could no longer work and was too much of a liability to hire. Jay still wants to work though. He wants to contribute and be a productive member of society. On this piece of land, if all of our dreams ARE ALLOWED to come true, he will be able to.

Recently, we had been discussing our insecurity about having our property within the Agriculture Land Reserve. When we bought in 2016, we painstakingly went through all the rules and regulations and even called the ALC a number of times to make sure that all of our plans were sound and would be allowed. We also went to the FVRD and talked to them about everything we wanted, all of our dreams, and made sure we were on track. We are now terrified.

What happens when/if the rules are changed again? Is this even our land? I know we pay for it. Can the government just take it away when they feel it is time, and pull the rug out from underneath all of us? If that is so, please tell us now. And, what does the “reserve” really mean? The recent changes really made us pause, ponder, and become incredibly nervous. Is it wise to put all of our money and resources into a piece of land when the rules that govern it can randomly change? We are working this parcel of land for our children, and our children’s children. I don’t want our lives’ work to be in vain.

Jay & I talked about the need for innovation and diversification on our land. I know that developing agriculture like crops, plants, flowers, mushrooms and livestock is your main goal, that is understandable. Similarly, our goal is to have a bio-diverse property full of many plants and animals–a holistic system of permaculture. But unfortunately, this isn’t always the best strategy to make money on a farm. This is why small-scale farmers need wiggle room to be able to make their livelihoods off of their properties.

With margins being so tight, it is really hard to compete with grocery store loss-leader chicken, or even the neighbour across the street who clearly doesn’t know how much the egg they are selling really costs. What about the fact that it is hard for small-to-medium-sized farms to take animals to butcher because of all the hurdles? Why doesn’t it count to turn a sheep’s wool into a lovely scarf or sweater instead of selling it raw? We should be able to use and sell the whole animal in value-added products. This is what the locals are screaming for. This is what they want, this is what we should be able to give them.

Why are there so many rules stopping hardworking families from making money off of their land? As a horticulturist, I have to work offsite, for someone else, doing the EXACT same thing that I should be doing on my own land. It’s a bit ironic, but I have a mortgage to pay. I wish I didn’t have to work outside of our property and I really shouldn’t have to. I’m needed on the land and I want to be on the property full time. But how will we pay for it if we can’t make enough money off of our own land? We need to be able to start somewhere.

In addition to generalized uncertainty, some of the key questions that keep us up at night include:

Why are we only allowed 10 events?
What exactly counts as an event? Is it just large events? Or do small tiny weddings count? Does running a haunted house over 10 days count as 10 events? Is it an event or is agritourism? We shouldn’t have to all be pondering these questions, it should be really simple. Pound-for-pound pumpkin patches will always make more money if they are diversified; if they can offer a little fun with mazes, hayrides and haunted houses, they will be more successful! I am just not grasping why a haunted house can not be done in a greenhouse for instance. What’s wrong with value-added success?

Why is agritourism accommodation only allowed in some municipalities?
And why do you have to change your zoning in other municipalities to be able to do what others can? I’ve talked with the FVRD about rezoning my property–all it takes to apply is yet another fee. Or I could apply and pay for a temporary permit. Is this simply a pay-for-play system? Who does that benefit?

Will home businesses always be allowed?
What if I set up a consulting business based off of our property and the rules change? Will my ability to make money change too?

What if there is a modular home and it burns down–can it be replaced?

WE HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS. We ALL have so many questions. We don’t know how to plan our way forward and envision our future with confidence.

Jay has epilepsy and his seizures are triggered by stress and lack of sleep. As we stayed up at night talking about all of these changes and how they effect us and what might happen next, Jay’s stress threshold simply maxed out. In the wee hours of the morning on the 7th of October, he almost died from massive seizures.

Jay had tonic clonic after tonic clonic (these are the terrifying seizures that you may have seen on TV or in movies–they used to be called grandmal seizures). The seizures just kept coming, over and over again. Eventually, he went into status, which is a very dangerous condition. Any status seizure over 5 minutes is life threatening, and this one lasted for well over an hour. I found him lying in a pool of blood because he had bit through his tongue and he had aspirated. We called the paramedics and the first responders brought him to the hospital where he was put into an induced coma in the ICU.

We were all very worried about how bad the potential brain damage would be when he awoke from life support. These seizures and the associated lack of oxygen can really do a number on your brain. Luckily, he seems okay, but he isn’t. He isn’t okay at all. It’s going to take a long time for his brain and body to heal. I’m scared–really scared–for his future, and my children’s future.

Jay’s seizures are often caused by extreme stress, but this was like nothing I have ever seen. It’s been almost 5 years since he has had anything close to this type of seizure. We have a four-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son, and they witnessed quite a bit of this, and they were terrified. They are TERRIFIED.

Honestly, this time, I thought it was over. I was going to have to carry on with our dreams on my own. Which brings me to wonder so many things! We bought our property KNOWING that we would need help, especially from our families. We thought that when that time came, we could build a modular home for family -to live in, we even knew that it would be for disabled relatives, a criteria I had read about. And why just a modular option? We would have pleaded our case why we feel that putting a small suite on top of a barn or a garage in the wiser move for our land. But, there’s no way we can do this now–you’ve set a deadline of February 2020 to permit a modular home. We don’t have the finances to get this done so quickly. Many other people don’t have the finances either. How is that fair? The recent extension only added insult to injury as it only helps those who have the money.

We already had to borrow money from our family to buy our land because when the specialty lender realized our property was over 5 acres they asked for more money down…WAY more money. This was after we had already removed all of our subjects, as everything was fine until it was too much land and that they stumbled onto the fact that this property was in the ALR. Now it was risky.

So, imagine this (because we do ALL THE TIME): in a couple of years I might be a widow. Becoming a widow in my 30s is a terrible thought, but it’s something we thought about LONG AND HARD when we bought this property in 2016. At the end of his life, Jay wants me to be supported–and I will need it. I have two young little ones, FUTURE farmers. And we need help now.

How will I get my family on the property to help me raise my children so I can work the land? We’ve been told that it’s unrealistic for the ALC to permit secondary dwellings, modular homes or houses in the future if it isn’t for farm use. But, allowing family on the farm, would allow me more time to work on the farm! Since we haven’t built our primary house yet, I feel like I’m being forced to build a bigger house for my future needs. But we aren’t made of money. By removing the secondary housing option, you’ve essentially removed my own life support.

In addition to family support, we also want to utilize farm help. We would need a tiny cabin or something small so we can mentor woofers or young agrarians. Because, here is the thing, it is HARD at the beginning. Really hard, right from the start. I hope this will be considered. Working a farm takes many hands–the more the better. We need the ability to create small housing to house this help.

This month has been a nightmare. All of these ALC changes are a nightmare for so many hardworking families. All of these rules are very confusing to the average Joe. It’s like, you need to be a full-fledged farm to exist these days. What if you’re just a startup farm with lofty goals and a great business plan?

WHEN is a farm a farm???

We are the young farmers that Lana keeps talking about. We worked really hard to be able to afford our little slice of paradise. How are you going to make me trust the ALC, the government? What are you going to do to protect the farmers, the ranchers the stewards of the land? The current farmers the retired farmers and our future farmers? And please promise me that we didn’t make the biggest mistake of our lives by choosing to buy in the ALR.

I really want to have faith that everyone who sits on these panels and writes these bills has both the stewards of the land and the lands best interest in mind when these bills are amended. Please realize that the PROPERTY OWNERS who walk it every day love the land with everything they have. We will regenerate the land, nurture it and take care of it for future generations to come. If only we are allowed to.

We kept hearing “We hear you” over and over again at the meeting, PLEASE, I beg of you, prove to us, that you HEARD us.

Sincerely, Rebecca Pynn

Becky

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.