The petition of the undersigned, residents of the Province of British Columbia, states that:
Whereas: a business consortium led by industrial development companies has secretly Optioned to Purchase 558 acres of farmland in the Agricultural Land Reserve for $98 million dollars; and
Whereas: the farmland in question is the finest soil in Canada and represents a critical mass for the agricultural industry in Delta; and
Whereas: the future of sustainable, local, soil-based food production in British Columbia is threatened by the development plans of this industrial consortium; and
Whereas: these optioned lands are critical to the ecosystem that supports the Pacific Migratory Bird Flyway; and
Whereas: the Agricultural Land Reserve was never intended to be a land bank for development;
Your petitioners request that the Honourable House demand that the Government of British Columbia publicly condemn the proposed purchase and industrialization of farmland and declare its commitment to protect lands in the Agricultural Land Reserve.