THURSDAY, JULY 14 2016 VOL. 73, NO. 75
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B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office continues to investigate whether RCMP were justified in shooting James McIntyre (above) outside a Site C open house in Dawson Creek last year.
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Bud and Jo Middleton at their property at Mile 61 of the Alaska Highway.
Couple frustrated over 17-year battle to remove property from land reserve BRONWYN SCOTT
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After a 17-year battle to have their “unfarmable� property excluded from the Agricultural Land Reserve, Jo and Bud Middleton say they are fed up and ready to take the Agricultural Land Commission to court. The couple, from Fort St. John and North Pine respectively, says they bought the 266acre property 20 years ago with the intention of farming it. They quickly discovered they made an error in judgment and should have learned the lay of the land before purchasing it. “We were looking at farming it, because it’s in the Agricultural Land Reserve, and then we found that we couldn’t,� said Jo Middleton in an interview with the Alaska Highway News. “We’ve been trying to subdivide it (since).� The land, at Mile 61 of the Alaska Highway, is laden with boulders, and covered in dense brush and trees. The land is rated 5C, with five being a class that “has limitations that restrict its capability to producing perennial forage crops or other specially adapted crops,� according to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) website. The subclass “C� denotes a significant adverse climate for crop production. The couple says they have submitted nine applications over the span of 17 years. They want to subdivide the entire property into 30 smaller lots ranging in size from five to 27 acres, which is consistent
with the Peace River Regional District’s Official Community Plan, and consistent with the residential zoning of the parcel. With each application, they present new evidence to support their claim that the land shouldn’t be in the ALR, and each time they’ve been refused. “The reasons that they gave us last time for turning it down was, ‘we’ve turned it down before,’� Middleton said. A second reason was that the commission has to keep the land in large parcels because it has a better chance of supporting agriculture, which the couple thinks is “ridiculous� considering the land “never has supported agriculture, and never will support agriculture� because of the severe limitations of the land. A glimmer of hope On Thursday, July 7, for the second time in nearly two decades, the Middletons met with the land commission to talk about their applications and numerous refusals. They came equipped with a letter from Arthur Hadland, formerly of the Agricultural Land Commission, supporting their application. “It’s very low capability agricultural land, it’s right on the very edge of the settlement area ... it’s a glacial till and it’s rocky, and there’s just nothing that you would farm,� Hadland said in an interview. “My view anyway is it was a perfect location for, if people like the rural residential lifestyle, that was a good option.
Trying to prove that the land doesn’t belong in the ALR has been a costly venture for the couple. Over they years, they say they’ve spent more than $10,000 trying to fulfill requirements laid out by the commission. See FRUSTRATED on A8
See MCINTYRE on A12
But in terms of extensive agriculture, basically it’s forest land is what it is.� The Middletons haven’t had a response yet on their most recent application, but a decision is expected by the end of the month, according to Jessica Daniels, a land use planner with the ALC. She could not speak to the pros and cons of the property in question, as a decision has not been made, but said the Middletons’ past documentation will be considered together with their most recent application. “The commission will consider all the materials that were submitted with the application, but then as staff I provide them with background research, so past applications that have happened on the property,� Daniels explained. While the couple is encouraged by the fact that the ALC members traveled to the property, and in the meeting, seemed to be listening to their concerns, they are ready to battle it out in the courthouse if need be. If they’re refused again, “It’s got to go to a higher power,� Middleton said. A costly venture
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JONNY WAKEFIELD reporter@dcdn.ca
James McIntyre was a quiet man who built elaborate model train layouts, an avid environmentalist who sorted cans and bottles before his employer had a recycling program, and a devoted son who lived in an apartment one floor above his mother. For the first time since McIntyre was killed during a confrontation with police outside a Site C dam open house July 16, 2015, family members are speaking publicly about his life. B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office (IIO) continues to investigate whether the RCMP member was justified in shooting McIntyre, a 48-year-old MĂŠtis man who investigators say was wearing a mask and refused to drop a knife. Both McIntyre’s mother and sister say they don’t know what led to the standoff, which happened after another protester flipped tables and tore up maps at a public open house on Site C construction. Work on the controversial, $8.8-billion BC Hydro project began later that month. “He was never in trouble,â€? said Veronica McIntyre, his mother. “It’s devastating for me. It has been this past year. I will never know what got into him that evening.â€? Video of the shooting’s aftermath emerged online, showing two officers standing over a masked man outside the Fixx Urban Grill with guns drawn. The mask, believed to be the Guy Fawkes mask made popular by the film V for Vendetta and adopted by the hacker group Anonymous, set off a wave of international interest in the case.
266-acre property near Mile 61 not suited for farming, Middletons say as they seek to subdivide property peacereporter@ahnfsj,ca
One year later, family remembers man shot by RCMP
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