The British Columbia Cabinet's role in the Agricultural Land Reserve, 1973-1993
Date
2024
Authors
Dippel, Benjamin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This thesis is about British Columbia’s government, the workings and evolution of the Environment and Land Use Committee (ELUC), a cabinet committee, and cabinet appeals regarding Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) land, a provincial land use policy intended to protect agricultural land from development. From 1973 to 1993, the cabinet and the ELUC had the final call on whether land was excluded from the ALR through cabinet appeals from individuals, local governments, and the Agricultural Land Commission. This thesis looks at some of the decisions by the cabinet and the ELUC in this role. I argue here that the Social Credit government of Bill Bennett used cabinet appeals to make it easier for landowners to appeal to an elected body and to build. It is argued that Bill Vander Zalm’s Social Credit government used cabinet appeals to ensure that the development of ALR-zoned land enriched his constituents, the premier’s friends, and the premier. I also argue that the NDP governments of Dave Barrett and Mike Harcourt sparingly dealt with ALR appeals. The thesis is structured into five main chapters, beginning with the creation of the cabinet committee during W.A.C. Bennett’s last government in 1969 and ending in 1993 with the abolition of most cabinet appeals. Specific appeals are explained from Vancouver Island, the lower mainland, and the Okanagan valley. This thesis contributes to scholarship about British Columbia’s government and political culture, cabinet and cabinet committees, and the ALR; it does so in an innovative way by examining specific ALR appeals.
Description
Keywords
Agricultural Land Reserve, British Columbia history, land use planning, urban studies, history, Canadian history, cabinet and cabinet committees, Environment and Land Use Committee, administrative tribunals, premiers, government