The former mayor of Saanich, B.C., is the new chair of the Agricultural Land Commission.
Frank Leonard is taking over the commission immediately following the dismissal of chair and chief executive officer Richard Bullock.
Leonard was mayor of the Vancouver Island city for 18 years. His term ended last November.
He is also chair of Parkbridge Lifestyles Communities, vice-chair of the Municipal Pension Plan and a director of the Victoria Airport Authority. He has previously served as a director of the B.C. Investment Management Corporation. He has extensive public service experience, including chair of Municipal Finance Authority of B.C., president of the Union of B.C. Municipalities and a director of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, according to a news release from the provincial ministry of agriculture.
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He was also a past co-chair of the Farm Assessment Review Panel, which looked at the farm classification process and regulations for municipal tax purposes.
The ALC is an independent administrative tribunal responsible for administering the province’s Agricultural Land Reserve. The commission’s mission is to preserve agricultural land and encourage and enable farm businesses throughout B.C. The reserve is the largest it has ever been with more than 1.1 million acres set aside for farming. ALR land has been steadily increasing since 2001.
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