NFU Submission to the PEI Land Use Task Force

The National Farmers Union District 1, Region 1

Submission to

The Task Force on Land Use Policy
Prince Edward Island

The members of the generation which is in power must not treat the
earth as something given by their parents, but rather as something
borrowed from their children. (National Farmers Union Policy G-6 #1)

The land is only to be used and handed on in trust
(No, No Don’t Sell PEI, song composed and sung by the late Reverend Andrew Macdonald)

The National Farmers Union (NFU) welcomes this opportunity to address the Land Use Policy Task Force. As you may know, on April 8, 2013, the NFU made a comprehensive submission to the Carver Commission on the Prince Edward Island Lands Protection Act. We refer you to that presentation and its appendices. It was notable that during the exercise of the Commission a wide range of community groups and individuals came out in agreement with the NFU positions on the land. In fact, it seemed as though a majority was of the same frame of mind.

We are convinced that the attitude/ideology of those who own and control the land is intimately related to how the land is used. Similarly the attitude/ideology of those who develop and implement policies, whether government departments or municipal planning authorities, is intimately related to how those policies play out. Sustainable development means different things to different sectors. We cannot assume that all policy-makers use the same “sustainable development” lens from which to form and implement policy.

We cannot assume that farmers all agree on the meaning of sustainable development. This is seen in our varied concepts of land ownership

Read the full submission.