With the demand for arable land surging worldwide, and the value of acreage doing the same, the question would seem to be whether as a province we simply allow the market to decide what becomes of the Island countryside and Island rural culture (which is to say we allow our future to be decided by the investment strategies of the super-wealthy), or whether we actually choose and plan our future democratically.
The pressure is mounting daily, and with it the need for action and vision.
During the last election the Conservative candidates, including the premier, were outspoken in their support for a provincial land bank, and made the case for it strongly. Then, shortly after being elected they hired Kevin Arsenault to write a report on the topic, complete with recommendations. And he did. And many of us were hopeful. Then curiously it pretty much just disappeared, like last night’s dream. Little explanation. Minimal discussion. Just poof! Gone. Out of sight, out of mind. But that is a very great disappointment to many Islanders.
What happened?
What I have been wondering lately is if there is any connection between the smothering of the land bank initiative and the fact that on a number of occasions spokespersons for the Federation of Agriculture (the farm organization most closely associated with Robert Irving) have stated publicly that a land bank is not something they like. It is truly distressing to consider that a handful of industrial potato growers and a billionaire non-resident may be shaping agricultural policy, land use and the future of the province.
Mr. Premier, the people of P.E.I. paid for that study, and we need to know what happened, and why. Surely you recognize there is nothing transparent about the manner in which this is being handled. Setting up a land-bank may be the surest way forward to a sane and land-friendly agricultural policy, and many of us would like to be assured that your government’s apparent deference to the Irving corporation is not determining unduly the very future of our province. It’s the very reason Premier Angus MacLean created the Lands Protection Act — to prevent such a thing.
In a word, it feels like a betrayal.
David Weale,
Charlottetown
