The land question
REMAINS IN
THE FORE
“The silence has to stop.”Though it was a quote from
Boyd Allen of the Coalition for the Protection of PEI Land,
at a public meeting last week hosted by Green Party leader
Matt MacFarlane, the sentiment was shared throughout the room. The ambiguity of the upper echelons of IRAC just isn’t cut-
ting it. And that is what MacFarlane’s proposed amendment to
the Lands Protection Act aims to address. He wants to make
IRAC investigation reports available to the public.
But a broader theme emerged. One statistic, that the
Island is losing an average of 20 acres of farm land a day, mostly
to development, was rather startling.
It makes one wonder exactly what that means for the future
of the farming industry. Anecdotally there also seems
to be a lot of forested land being cleared to make way for
more farm fields. There is no doubt land is a finite resource and no matter what way you look at it, everyone is vying for a piece of the pie. Farmers need to farm and res-
idents need a roof over their heads. But the question remains, is
IRAC the right body to make decisions regarding land trans-
actions? For many the answer is a resounding no. Is it time to bring back the land use commission, the organization made up of ordinary Islanders who made decisions on land ownership
prior to the formation of IRAC? That was Ian Petrie’s sugges-
tion. And many agreed. But dealing with government
requires patience when looking for change. It will be a hard hill to climb if the decision is made to go back to the way things used to be. But wouldn’t it be refreshing for taxpayers to take back some of the power?
Charlotte MacAulay
