File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Working Together Towards Identifying and Protecting Land for Nature in the Kamloops Area" to an unknown audience.

Two women stand to left of man in fenced garden. Dog in foreground, road and neighbourhood in background.

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Winter Range for Ungulates" for the Symposium on Threatened Species and Habitats in British Columbia and the Yukon.

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Who Gets to Use the Land and Water? - the Urban and Agricultural Land Needs of the Okanagan Valley" for the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, UBC and Okanagan College.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"Although the ALR and ALC Act are not mentioned directly, the paper is focused on agriculture and rural planning.

When speaking of the competition for land and the pressure agricultural land is under, an interesting statement is included referring to the fact that "the fluctuation" in Washington State's apple crop is greater than the entire annual Okanagan production.

The paper reviews pressures on agriculture and urban land uses. Under "Satisfying the Needs (Options and Interrelationships)" seven points are made including "Understanding the land is the most important prerequisite to its wise and proper use," and that Integrated Natural Resource Management and Land Use Planning must be closely tied.

The paper ends with a point of optimism - "I see that potential to increase our understanding of the natural processes and to explore the questions of who gets to use the land and water from a view point somewhere in the orchard or countryside rather than from Main Street. That's a beginning."

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Western Canadian Agriculture - A Look to the Future" for an unknown audience.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"As the title suggests, this speech is largely a look at agriculture in Western Canada and therefore breaks from many of the familiar themes in GGR's speeches and includes several interesting statistics.

For example in 1921 the average Canadian farmer could feed 11 people. By 1981 the average farm could feed 56 people. [In 2012 The average farm in Canada produced enough food to feed 120 people every day.] The average Canadian expenditure of income on food after taxes:
1947 - 25%
1969 - 22%
1980 - 18%

The speech considers the following topics:
A. The changing Picture of Western Canadian Agriculture

• Energy Costs
• Cropping Options
• Northern Expansion
• Diversification, Intensification, Specialization
• Foreign Ownership

B. Agricultural Land Use Planning
C. Integrated Land Use Issues"

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Vegetable Situation in BC".

Image depicts a barn with large, Harvestore Systems. It is possibly located on one of the many farms near Vanderhoof, B.C.

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Urban Growth Impact on Rangelands in British Columbia" for the Society for Range Management - Pacific Northwest Section in Spokane, Washington.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"In this speech GGR focuses on a single example of the Lauder Ranches at Glimpse Lake (north east of Merritt and about 12 km north of Douglas Lake) and states that his perspective for the purpose of his presentation is to look through the eyes of one that perceives the utilization of the forage resource to best advantage is for red meat production as opposed to the view of the urban planner.

In this example it appears the "urban" land use is a proposal to subdivide land along the lake shore for residential / recreation purposes.

GGR outlines the potential impacts on the long standing ranching operation. In his summary he mentions his concern with regard to recent changes to the (now) Agricultural Land Commission Act in stating, "...I think recent amendments to the Agricultural Land Commission Act opening appeal of Commission decisions to the political arm is going to cause serious problems (politicians do not understand the impact question)..." This is a reference to the appeal mechanism to ELUC.

There is also an appeal for beef producers to get involved more directly in planning and political processes which is a theme GGR has expressed in previous speeches."

File consists of notes for an untitled speech about "Experiences at the B.C. Land Commission" by Gary Runka at a Habitat 1976 panel at the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, Vancouver between May 31-June 11,1976.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"GGR gave this speech as part of a panel at Habitat 1976.

The speech outlines the scope of the legislation, background of a provincial zoning technique (based on technical information), the establishment of the ALR plans in each of 28 regional districts and commentary on some of the projects the Commission is involved with.

Providing context to the land-use planning environment that the B.C. farmland preservation program and ALR were thrust into in the mid-1970s, GGR remarks that:
"In many cases we have local governments making their first real strong attempt at land use planning. Backed by the strength of the Land Commission Act it is seen as a real change to control urban sprawl and linear development that is detrimental from other planning points of view, as well as from the agricultural land point of view."

The fact that GGR was asked to be part of the panel at the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlements speaks to the regard given the B.C. farmland preservation program."

File consists of an untitled speech about resource conflicts given by Gary Runka to the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) Annual General Meeting in Vancouver.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"The original version consists of 3 pages of hand-written notes that were accompanied by slides (not available). The hand written notes have been transcribed.

GGR outlined several societal needs and wants but emphasises that we don't have enough land to provide for all these needs and desires if we keep planning in a haphazard manner.

He urges environmentalists to be prepared technically and avoid the image of being opposed to everything. He calls for greater integration in dealing with resource issues.

GGR was the keynote, guest speaker at the meeting."

File consists of an untitled speech to the Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce regarding land use planning and its impact on the food producer.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"These 3 pages of notes prepared for a speech given to the Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce are packed with several important themes and is a more refined version of [2020.4.2.1.24].

Some of the important themes mentioned include:

1. Preserving the option of agriculture in BC will not be accomplished by preserving agricultural land alone;
2. Prior to the ALR we were losing our best farmland first;
3. BC is attempting to become more self-sufficient in food production;
4. BC agriculture is diverse but lacks large volumes of any single commodity;
5. Rural areas must be carefully planned to protect food production and not thought of as a storehouse of future urban development;
6. With land use planning it is often difficult to see benefits in the short term but losses for a few people should amount to long term gains for many; and
7. Several examples are provided of initiatives aimed at protecting rural areas, habitat etc.

The speech notes include the first mention of the work of the Ministry of Agriculture's Greenzone Committee and its efforts to find ways of reducing land use conflicts.

Many of these themes have been considered in previous speeches but are consolidated here and the paper ends with a need for food producers to get involved in land use planning process."

File consists of an untitled published piece in Country Life Column by Gary Runka.

Commentary by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This article is focused on renewed interest in the development of a provincial land use strategy. The article outlines the lack of action for over 20 years in the development of such a strategy.

Several key land and water uses that warrant consideration are listed - starting with agriculture - along with a list of overriding issues.

The position of GGR is clear in the last paragraph - 'The time for a provincial land use strategy was yesterday"..

Although farmland preservation is not specifically identified it would, one would have to think, clearly be one element of a land use strategy."

File consists of an untitled published piece in Country Life Column by Gary Runka.

Commentary by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This article focuses a report of the B.C. Round Table on the Environment and the Economy - "A Better Way - Creating a Sustainable Development Strategy for B.C." published in 1990. The thrust of the article concerns the disregard for agriculture in the report. The report identifies six key principles which amount to reasonable objectives / goals but in contrast agriculture fares badly in the report. Three examples are provided of the report's failings with respect to agriculture. Four key questions are asked including, "How can we best protect the limited high capability agricultural land base from alternate use competition?"

Landscape featuring town buildings below on right. A farmyard can be seen in foreground.

Grass area in foreground, forest and hills in background.

Photograph depicts a man cooking over campfire, log building and forest in background.

Photograph depicts a woman and man seated on two tractors parked close together and facing each other. Railway cars in background, child's pram in foreground.

Man appears to be speaking during an election campaign. Two unidentified men sit on either side. Chalkboard and doors can be seen in background. Signs visible on table read: "RE-ELECT" and "I'M PROUD TO BE A FARMER".

Man stands on wooden walkway in midground on right. He is smoking a cigarette, wearing a bow-tie and sweater. Chicken wire is visible throughout garden, log fence and trees in background. Rooftop of unknown house can be seen against forest in distance.

Slide depicts a row of red and yellow tulips in front of a row of blossoming cherry trees. Original slide index description: "Tulips & Chery Blossoms Ok. Mission."

File consists of a presentation folder containing the Official Report of Debates of the Legislative Assembly (Hansard) from Wednesday, February 12, 2014 Afternoon Sitting (Volume 5, Number 2) which includes a tribute to Gary Runka. Also includes a DVD.

Photograph depicts a rear view of 4 of the 6 traction engines in Nanton, Alberta. The left engine was built by Reeves and Co. in Columbus, Indiana, U.S. Its identification is #4438, it has 2 cylinder simple, and a roof. The next engine was built by Waterloo Mfg. Co. Ltd. in Waterloo, Ontario and has a single cylinder. The third engine was built by Sawyer Massey. The engine on the right side is a Gaar Scott, built in 1913, and has 25 horsepower on the drawbar and 75 horsepower on the belt.

Photograph depicts traction engines owned by Jack Burrows in Nanton, Alberta. There are six in this photo, all of which appear could be steamed, another two in derelict condition, and one in the village in working order. Running from front to rear in the photo: 1) Reeves with roof, U.S. 2) Waterloo, Ontario, Canada 3) Massey, Canada 4) Gaar Scott with roof, U.S. 5) Massey, Hamilton, Canada 6) Gaar Scott, U.S.

Photograph depicts a traction engine built by Sawyer Massey in Hamilton, Ontario. It has a single cylinder and large fire box for burning wood or straw. The engine is located in Nanton, Alberta.

Photograph depicts a traction engine at a ranch on Nicola Lake, near Merritt. The engine was made by Nichols-Shepard Co. at Battle Creek, Michigan and named the "Red River Special." It is undated and has 2 cylinders, side tanks, 16-10 horse power, wood burner, firebox 5 ft. long.