SHUFFLE shifts Popham to tourism nfrom page 1
BIOSECURITY no match for avian influenza nfrom page 1
2 | JANUARY 2023 COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
establishing policies to use
our agricultural land wisely,
increase production, and add
processing capacity,” the
letter states. “Your role also
involves building on our
strong export sector by
promoting the clean, safe,
high-quality food produced in
BC, creating jobs and growing
our economy sustainably
while supporting our
communities and our
neighbours.”
The latter is of particular
interest to Alexis, whose
riding was hit hard by the
November 2021 atmospheric
river events and their
aftermath.
“The atmospheric river’s
silver lining was perhaps the
appetite to do things in a
dierent way, to get more
certainty out of our food
production,” she says. “I
believe we have people that
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are able to help with solutions
in a number of ways. One that
really excites is certainly the
agritech sector and looking at
growing food in a dierent
way, with perhaps less
reliance on those traditional
methods. So those are the
kinds of things that really
inspire me.”
Alexis doesn’t have a
farming background. She
studied ne arts at the
University of Victoria. Prior to
entering provincial politics in
2020, she operated an event
management company and in
2012-15 was vice-president of
the BC Winter Games.
She began working more
closely with growers
following her election in 2020,
noting, “I actually learned
more than I ever thought
possible about the farming
and agriculture sector.”
She looks forward to
continuing that work this
month, noting that several
groups have asked to meet
with her. To date, her one
ocial meeting has been with
her federal counterpart to
discuss avian inuenza.
Alexis’ appointment
surprised many, including
Opposition agriculture critic
Ian Paton. Popham, whose
farming experience on
Vancouver Island gave her a
rapport with growers, now
oversees tourism, arts, culture
and sport – all areas more
aligned with Alexis’
experience.
“I’m just shocked that she
was chosen to be the minister
of agriculture,” Paton says of
Alexis. “[Lana] didn’t have a
ton of farming background,
but she was very passionate
about what she was doing.”
Paton looks forward to
working with Alexis but
hopes she will be briefed,
allowing her to get up to
speed quickly.
Besides the ongoing avian
inuenza outbreak, the
province also needs to
undertake discussions around
the next ve-year agricultural
policy framework, which will
replace the Canadian
Agricultural Partnership on
April 1.
Popham told Country Life in
BC at the end of November
that preparations were
underway. Alexis expects
discussions with Ottawa to
begin in January.
“Farmers are doing
everything they can to keep
their ocks healthy but the
latest thinking is that the virus
is in the water (i.e. puddles)
and is potentially carried by
dust – both very hard to keep
out of a barn,” says Amanda
Brittain, spokesperson for the
BC Poultry Association
emergency operations centre
established to address the
outbreak.
The fact that all Lower
Mainland cases since October
have been in commercial
operations is a shift from
earlier this year, when all but
seven premises aected were
non-commercial or non-
poultry ocks.
While there is no evidence
of farm-to-farm spread at this
point, the density of farms in
the region is a signicant risk,
according to the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency,
which is leading government
response eorts.
“While there have been a
mix of non-commercial and
commercial premises aected
throughout the ongoing
outbreak, the current surge in
the Fraser Valley has only
aected commercial
operations,” CFIA said in a
statement to Country Life in
BC. “The large number of
commercial barns and birds in
the Fraser Valley presents
many opportunities for the
virus to be introduced.”
BC growers remain at their
most vigilant red biosecurity
alert level as countries
worldwide continue to
grapple with the worst
outbreak on record of the
highly pathogenic H5N1 strain
of the virus, rst identied in
1996. It is notable not just for
the scale of deaths – more
than 110 million birds
worldwide – but the fact it’s
impacted more than 80 wild
and domestic species.
Besides domestic chickens
and turkeys, ducks as well as
pheasants and pea fowl have
taken sick – species never
before impacted in BC.
Producers are already
doing their utmost to ght the
disease and CFIA has no
immediate plans to escalate
measures to ght the current
outbreak. Indeed, its 350 sta
in Western Canada are nding
it tough to keep up with the
pace of detections, with
depopulations taking longer
than expected.“Preventative
farm biosecurity is primarily
the responsibility of the
poultry industry with the
support of provincial
regulatory orders as required,”
it says.
The province maintains that
migratory birds are responsible
for the virus’s introduction
into domestic ocks. The
province’s top vet has issued
orders requiring commercial
ocks be kept indoors.
CFIA sta indicate wildlife
mortalities in BC have been
low relative to commercial
ocks, however.
“Avian inuenza is enzootic
in migratory wild birds and
they are generally less
susceptible to the disease
than domestic poultry,” CFIA
told Country Life in BC. “Wild
birds can shed this virus
without signicant mortality
levels being observed.”
By mid-December, 44 wild
birds – primarily eagles,
owls,and waterfowl – had
tested positive for H5N1 in BC,
according to the federal
government’s avian inuenza
dashboard. This is the least of
any province in Canada.
Three red fox and one
skunk have also tested
positive. On December 2, the
BC Centre for Disease Control
asked doctors to be alert to
cases in humans given the
surge in on-farm cases.
The aggressive and
unpredictable nature of this
year’s outbreak has placed
growers under an extreme
amount of stress. Brittain says
the BC Poultry Association is
oering mental health
supports.
BC agriculture minister Pam
Alexis says the province also
wants to ensure impacted
farms have the support they
need while the CFIA does its
work.
“Our role is just to assist
because of course the CFIA is
responsible for the issue,”
Alexis said.
Poultry groups are also
developing plans to address
shortages of product.
Cooperation among supply
management groups will help
to oset local shortages, but
preparation is key.
“Each of the commodity
boards is working on plans to
ensure a steady supply of
poultry products to the
market,” Brittain says. “We
appreciate the support shown
to all BC farmers by the public.
We urge them to keep asking
for BC products in their local
grocery stores.”