Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

Governments - whether the previous BC Liberals, or the current BC NDP under Premier John Horgan - feels the need to use tax-payer resources to self-promote what they’re doing … OVER and OVER and OVER again!


In case you were not aware, the Land Matching program, under the auspices of Lana Popham’s Agriculture Ministry, has been cranking out story after story about this BC government program.

The last one coming out on June 28th, triggered that I’d seen mention of this before, so I checked my Agriculture file, and sure enough the government couldn’t get enough of telling us about Land Match; in fact, there was three stories alone on September 18th of last year.

Honestly, this is one of the things that really gals me … the government (whether it the previous BC Liberals, or now the BC NDP under Premier John Horgan) feel the need to use tax-payer resources to self-promote what they are doing … OVER and OVER and OVER again!

Since January 5th of last year, there has been six releases from the BC Government News department, all related to the same program – the BC Land Matching Program.  Now I’m sure they would use the rationale that many were because of being for specific regions of the province, however how does that fit for the September 18th three-peat?  That certainly was not necessary.

Here’s the stories, and timeline, over the past eighteen months:

January 5th, 2018 … land-matching project connects new farmers to farmland in Metro Vancouver

A pilot project that matches new farmers looking to get their start in B.C. agriculture with available fertile farmland in the Metro Vancouver area will kick off in 2018, thanks to a $25,000 investment from the governments of Canada and British Columbia … this investment will help create opportunities for young and beginning farmers, leading to economic growth and helping to strengthen our middle class…


September 18th, 2018 …. BC Land Matching Program supports new farmers in Columbia Basin

… new and young farmers in the Columbia Basin are receiving support and services from a dedicated land matcher, as part of the new BC Land Matching Program … this program will help young people enter into the agricultural industry, which might otherwise be a challenge because of the rising cost of land in some regions of BC


September 18th, 2018 … BC Land Matching Program supports new farmers in the Okanagan

… new and young farmers in the Okanagan are receiving support and services from a dedicated land matcher, as part of the new BC Land Matching Program that connects farmers looking for land with landowners wanting to lease their land for farming … program helps young people enter into the farming industry, which not only benefits retiring farmers, but also all British Columbians by increasing food security and access to locally grown foods…


September 18th, 2018 … BC Land Matching Program supports access to affordable farmland for young farmers

… BC Land Matching program aims to address a lack of affordable farmland in the province by connecting new and young farmers with local landowners … an innovative approach to one of the greatest barriers facing new and young farmers, which is accessing affordable farmland … the program will help new and young farmers…



… new and young farmers throughout BC are seeing results and getting agricultural land into production, thanks to the support of regional land matchers and the B.C. Land Matching Program … the challenge for young and new farmers entering the agricultural industry is acquiring affordable farmland that they can farm …

June 28th, 2019 … Land matcher to help new farmers in remote communities

… new and young farmers in northern and central British Columbia will have access to support and services to enter the farming sector following the expansion of the BC Land Matching Program (BCLMP) … land matchers are making it much easier for young people and aspiring farmers to find affordable, suitable land and enter British Columbia’s vibrant farming sector



There you go …. new and young farmers … Land Match Project … getting their start in agriculture … receiving support and services … create opportunities… enter the agriculture industry.  

 All of these word combinations show up in each one of the media releases, and pretty much the only change is the location, which creates another opportunity for government self-promotion.

Government news, in my opinion, should give the who, what, when, where, why of new – or changing – government programs … THAT’S IT!

Sadly, in moving back and forth between BC NDP, and BC Liberal governments, neither have felt they should undertake this change in philosophy, when it come to what they promote through news releases.

Is there anyone out there ready to take up the challenge?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FORSETH -- Focus on the nine things I mentioned. That’s what will allow the Conservative Party to win the next election

IMAGE CREDIT:   Darryl Dyck, the Canadian Press. I thought I had already made up my mind who I would be ranking on my ballot, in the Conservative Party of BC leadership race; now I am not so sure.  That means that, at least for me, and perhaps many others, it’s a good thing voting hasn’t already taken place. There were initially only one or two of the candidates that I thought might be a little too right of centre for my liking, now it seems that list is growing. I consider myself more closely aligned with what used to be called a Progressive Conservative, regardless, I feel more than comfortable within the Conservative Party of BC.  Some, however, in messages to me on my political Facebook page, have been rather, shall we say, a bit mean-spirited in comments they’ve made about my ‘purity’ as a conservative. To tell you the truth, I really don’t care! Some leadership candidates, in comments made online, have also been raising the issue of who is a pure enough conservati...
Post a Comment
Read more

WARD STAMER -- Those are REAL forestry numbers, not just made-up numbers

The following is a condensed version of remarks Kamloops – North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer’s made, regarding Forestry, in the BC Legislature, on Tuesday afternoon (02/24/2026)   Let’s talk a little bit, when we talk about Budget 2026, about the forest industry, which is near and dear to my heart. Forestry remains one of British Columbia’s foundational industries. It’s a pillar that built this province. Entire communities depend upon it. Interior towns, northern communities, Vancouver Island regions, the Kootenays, the Lower Mainland, with manufacturing facilities in Surrey and Maple Ridge, just to name a few — everywhere in BC is touched by forestry. One word that was not mentioned in Budget 2026 was forestry. That’s a shame, an incredible shame. It wasn’t an oversight – it was intentional. This government has driven forestry into the ground .... INTO THE GROUND! We can talk a little bit about some of the initiatives that this government has brought forth, to try to resurrect ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Your government has a gambling problem (Troy Media)

Provinces call it “revenue,” but it looks a lot like exploitation of the marginalized The odds of winning Lotto Max are about 1 in 33 million. You’re statistically more likely to be struck by lightning than to win it. But your government is betting that statistics won’t hold you back; they’re counting on it. Across Canada, provincial governments not only regulate gambling, they also maintain a monopoly on lottery and gaming by owning and operating the entire legal market. That means every scratch card is government-issued, gambling odds are government-set, casino ads are government-funded and lottery billboards are government-paid. And these are not incidental government activities. They generate significant revenues that governments have powerful incentives to expand, not constrain. It would be one thing for our governments to encourage us to engage in healthy activities. We can quibble about whether the government should be trying to convince us to be more active or eat more vegetabl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more