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Agricultural Land Commission Amendment Act, 2004
The following are the key changes resulting from the legislative and regulatory amendments.
Changes Affecting First Nations — Pre-Treaty:
- The legislative amendments provide that a First Nation government that has signed an agreement-in-principle can apply to the Commission for ALR exclusions or inclusions (sections 17 (3) & 30 of the Agricultural Land Commission Act) or subdivision or non-farm use (sections 20 & 21) as if it were the owner of the proposed treaty settlement lands.
- A decision of the Commission on an application for proposed treaty settlement lands only becomes effective when those lands are established as treaty settlement lands and the First Nation government passes a law approving the Commission’s decision.
- For applications to the Commission by an owner to exclude land from the ALR (including First Nation applications for proposed treaty settlement lands), a new provision in the regulation requires the referral of any application that involves land adjacent to a different government jurisdiction (be it municipal, regional district or first nation), to that different jurisdiction.
Changes Affecting First Nations — Post-Treaty:
- A First Nation government that has reached a treaty settlement can apply to the Commission for inclusion or exclusion from the ALR and subdivision or non-farm use within the ALR under Sections 17, 20, 21, 29 and 30 of the Act, in the same manner as a local government. This includes the requirement to advertise and hold public hearings for inclusion and exclusion applications made under Sections 17(1) and 29.
- Post-treaty, a First Nation government, similar to a local government, must authorize an application to proceed to the Commission by passing a law.
Changes Affecting Both Local Governments and First Nations:
- For applications by a local government or First Nation government to the Commission for inclusion or exclusion from the ALR under sections 17(1) and 29, a new provision in the regulation requires the referral of any application involving land adjacent to a different municipal, regional district or First Nation government jurisdiction to that different jurisdiction and to any municipal, regional district or First Nation jurisdiction whose interests that the applicant considers will be affected.
The regulation also requires posting of a notice of the application on the property.
- For applications to the Commission by an owner to exclude land from the ALR, the regulation provides that either the local government or First Nation government having jurisdiction over the land or the Commission may hold a public information meeting on the application.
- For all exclusion and inclusion applications, a local government or First Nation government must forward to the Commission any comments from an adjacent government and any public comments it receives.
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