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File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka to the Agricultural Institute of Canada entitled "Managing Our Land Resources for Survival and Pleasure".

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This speech is aimed at land use planning and planners, and GGR provides his definition of "ecology" which includes:
"...the basic characteristics of the land - its geology, soils, climate, vegetation, and animal life, including the devil that does the most damage, man. It also includes the interrelationships within these basic characteristics and of course this is where the word "complexities" comes in. There are no two places where these components combine in exactly the same manner and each ecological unit, if you like, is unique."

GGR mentions the importance of considering options.

This package includes a copy of the speech as well as a second, 2 page document, with the same title in which GGR is noted as 'Manager of the BC Land Commission'. This second document is largely a summary of the more formal speech."

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka to the Agricultural Institute of Canada Land Use Committee entitled "Land Use Control and Jurisdictional Rights".

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This is a first draft position paper written by GGR was developed for the Agricultural Institute of Canada, Land Use Committee.

The paper notes that attitudes are shifting from land being considered as a commodity to considering land as a natural resource. There are several references to governmental relationships, the inability to count on local governments to preserve agricultural land and the need for a federal land use policy supporting farmland preservation.

The use of a zoning tool as an effective means to preserve agricultural land is explored. The paper makes a strong case for there being no legal need for compensating land owners for regulatory land use zoning.

Included with the package are two letters written by GGR (November 7,1974) sent to Jim Lore (Alberta) and Steve Hart (Ottawa) requesting their review of the paper and input. A copy of the finalized paper, which may have been a jointly authored paper, is not included and it is not known if the paper was eventually published by the Agricultural Institute of Canada."

File consists of a 1973 BC Land Commission photographic slide and audio tape set entitled "Land Commission Act and the Agricultural Reserve Plan" that was used in original public hearings throughout the province. The 80 slides included with the presentation materials were created mostly by Gary Runka. The audio cassette is a recording of the presentation with speakers Bill Lane, BC Land Commission Chair, and Gary Runka, BC Land Commission General Manager.

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Land Use Planning as it affects the Vegetable Industry".

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"GGR gives this speech as a representative of the B.C. Land Commission and is directed at vegetable industry reps.

The ALR is mentioned a number of times and it is noted that only 1 - 2% of BC is suitable for vegetable production. Several examples (8) of pressures on agricultural land are given.

GGR draws his audience's attention to the impact of speculation when stating:
"Substantial capital gain from land development or speculation unfortunately can to some degree subvert even the best planning. .... Fortunately, this type of speculation is now on somewhat shaky ground because of the Land Commission Act in B.C."

The overall message is that vegetable producers should involve themselves in land use planning."

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Physical Resource Data Needs in Land Use Planning" which was given at a technical workshop to develop an integrated approach to base data inventories for Canada's Northland.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"While the speech is not related to agriculture or farmland preservation directly, GGR emphasises the importance of data collection and mapping and its use in the planning process. The general principles he discusses were those employed in the development of the Agricultural Land Reserve.

The proceedings of the workshop were published in 1979 by Environment Canada." The proceedings are available online at: https://www.geostrategis.com/PDF/1974-04-17%20remote%20sensing%20for%20northen%20surveys%20and%20environmental%20monitoring-jean%20Thie%20CCRS%20copy.pdf

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka to the BC Federation of Labour Environmental Conference entitled "Planned Development and Land Conservation".

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"GGR discusses the 'problem' of land being considered as either an "ecological natural resource" or "hot commodity".

He mentions that his background is in the natural sciences and land use planning and prefers to look at land as an ecological resource, not simply as a commodity.

The speech includes a quick review of the Land Commission's work and with reference to the Land Commission Act he makes the following observation (p.2):
"...the purpose is hardly necessary to relate to you - as what animal survives that destroys his food habitat next to his shelter or cover?"

The reason for BC's farmland preservation program could hardly be better stated."

File consists of notes written by Joan Sawicki for an untitled pending speech by Gary Runka.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"Despite this being only 4 pages of rough notes, its focus on the initial work of the Commission and challenges of designating the ALR make it an historically important document.

For example it was initially thought the ALR would be guided by class 1 - 4 CLI ratings but this proved impractical in the north and range areas. An additional challenge was that parts of the province only had the benefit of 1:50000 mapping. This presented a very real problem for establishing the ALR.

One concern with this document is that because it is written in point form and consists of rough notes, it could be open to a degree of misinterpretation if not considered by an individual with experience in the administration of the ALR. For a much more refined statement on the B.C. Agricultural Land Preservation program and the designation of the ALR see Items [2020.4.2.1.23, 2020.4.2.1.24, and 2020.4.2.1.25]."

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka to the BC Federation of Agriculture in Prince George entitled "The Land Commission and the Role of the B.C.F.A. Advisory Committee".

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"GGR uses this speech to particularly emphasize the work of the BCFA Regional Advisory Committees appointed to assist the Commission by providing advice.

Several specific examples are given of where the assistance of the Advisory Committees will be helpful.

GGR briefly outlines the work and challenges of the Commission to date. The speech ends with a list of six "general areas of concern". The list is very perceptive, revealing several of the challenges the Commission was facing at this early stage in the program including:

1. Breakdown of viable production units through the sale of existing legal parcels;
2. Rangeland tenure and management;
3. Integrated use complications;
4. Impact of major development proposals within or adjacent to the ALR;
5. Small holdings owned by non-rural people in the ALR; and
6. Urban re-direction away from the ALR and rural / urban interface conflicts.
   The last line of p. 5 is partially hidden and reads: "...more than willing to meet with any of you individually as time permits."

Photograph depicts MP Iona Campagnolo, a RCMP officer, and a customs officer standing in front of a boundary marker at the Canadian-American border between Hyder and Stewart.

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka to the B.C.I.A. entitled "Agricultural Land Reserves and the Land Commission Act".

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"With the original package associated with this speech are 5 pages of rough notes for another speech with the same title prepared for a B.C.I.A. meeting on March 22, 1976... Given that these rough notes were held with the material associated with the April 15, 1976 meeting it is possible the B.C.I.A. meeting planned for March was shifted to the April date. Additionally there are 6 pages numbered 6-11 that are of some detail concerning the work of the Commission but appear to be part of another speech but are included with the B.C.I.A. package and have, therefore, been [included with this speech].

The title of the speech "Agricultural Land Reserves and the Land Commission Act" sums up the thrust of the speech which notes the objectives of the legislation, the Commission's program of land acquisition and Commission research and support of innovative projects to assist rural planning to create a positive environment for agriculture and give direction to urban growth away from farmland.

Additionally an overview is provided of the Commission's activities in its first two years of operation. GGR comments that establishing the ALRs "... was but a first step and we feel that it is our job to continue to protect the Reserve by whatever approaches and methods of rural planning that are available to us". This speaks to a Commission that saw its role, even at this early stage, as being much more than simply a rationing board reviewing ALR applications.

Several examples are outlined in which it is suggested that professional agrologists should be looking at carefully.

At the end of the speech (p.5) GGR includes (a note to himself) to "follow with example of an agrologist's public statement" that obviously was of concern. The actual public statement was not included with the speech given on April 15th but was included in the rough notes of the speech dated March 22 which read as follows:
"Yet a member of the B.C.I.A. - a P.Ag - is quoted in the press in response to a local politician who asked him a question something like this in regard to an ALR exclusion application:
Local politician: What about the international, national and local concerns regarding land for future food production?
BOA member P.Ag: We should firstly be concerned with places for people to live and secondly worry about land for food production.
This is our profession - the image is yours to make.
I don't mean that we should go overboard, but if we are not willing to defend preservation of agricultural land - who is?"

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."

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting zoning proposed by the Prince George City Planner for the VLA neighbourhood.

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka entitled "Problems and Solutions: The BC Land Commission Experience" at the Conference on Agricultural Land Preservation in Washington State at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This speech, written for and delivered to an international audience, reads like an article aimed at providing an historical overview of the first three years of the work of the Land Commission.

While succinct, it also has the quality of a comprehensive overview. Up to this point this is the best item in the collection explaining the background of the legislation, implementation and administrative challenges of the Commission over its first three years of operation.

Given when it was written - at a time when the formative history of the Land Commission was being made and by a person in the very centre of this history who was day-by-day helping to create this history - this is a singularly important document."

File consists of a speech given by Gary Runka to the Canadian Council on Rural Development entitled "Land Use Control".

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"This is another important document.

GGR covers several points including a discussion of the impact of changes to rural areas from the food producer's perspective. He notes that local governments are not well positioned to effectively achieve farmland preservation - but there is a need for a coordinated approach.

The point is made that good rural planning depends on good urban planning.

A summary is made of efforts at rural planning and farmland preservation in other North American jurisdictions. An example is outlined of the complexity of overlapping land use controls and returns to a common theme - "merging the reality of land as a commodity with the ethic of land as a natural resource"."

File consists of a contribution to a workshop given by Gary Runka entitled "The Use of Bio-Physical Information - BC Land Commission Overview". Includes excerpts from the Proceedings from the Workshop on Ecological Land Classification in Urban Areas, Canadian Committee on Ecological Land Classification, 23 & 24 Nov. 1976, Toronto.

Commentary on this speech by Barry Smith of the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands:
"Besides a copy of the speech, the package includes + a letter from Ed Wiken of the Canada Committee on Ecological (Bio-Physical) Land Classification to G.G. Runka dated October 1977 and a "Notice of Publication" + 1 copy of the published paper entitled "The Use of Biophysical Information - B.C. Land Commission Overview" by G.G. Runka, Chairman, B.C. Land Commission.

This speech was given to a workshop in Toronto and very closely resembles and reads like a draft of the published (polished) 3 page paper.

GGR remarks that:
"As you can appreciate, we often find ourselves in the centre of politically sensitive issues. For this and other reasons, the Commission might be described as being on the "firing line" with regards to the use of bio-physical information - it is the basis of our agricultural zoning and the basis of our everyday decisions regarding applications under the Act and changes to the Agricultural Land Reserve."

The speech and paper provide an important overview on the role of the Canada Land Inventory (CLI) agricultural capability ratings in the designation of the ALR and is especially important because the paper is written by the individual who was central to both the development of the CLI in B.C. and designation of the ALR.

The published paper forms pages 141 to 143 of the 167 page proceedings of the 1976 workshop."

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting Hart Highway neighbourhood area existing land use in 1976.

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting the Blackburn neighbourhood development area's proposed sector plan in 1976.

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting the VLA neighbourhood proposed zoning in 1976.

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting public representations at the VLA neighbourhood zoning hearing that occurred on April 12, 1976.

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting zoning proposed by Prince George Alderman A. Stauble for the VLA neighbourhood.

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting the North Nechako and Hart neighbourhood area proposed land use in 1976.

Item is a hand drawn and coloured map by the City of Prince George Planning Department depicting existing land use for the Van Bow neighbourhood area.