Ministry hires deputy ministers

Two new assistant deputy ministers are joining the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

Michelle Koski is joining the province after five years as CEO of the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC.

“I am happy to share that I have accepted a position as assistant deputy minister with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food,” she said in a LinkedIn post this week. “I am very much looking forward to working with the talented and dedicated staff at the ministry and returning to public service. I am also looking forward to working with BC’s agriculture, agri-food and agri-tech sectors in my new role.”

In addition to her work with IAF, Koski brings extensive experience with the federal government in different capacities, most recently as deputy and regional director with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. She begins her new role January 27.

Eric Christiansen, formerly a policy advisor in the premier’s office, is also joining the ministry as an assistant deputy minister.

Koski joins the provincial ministry following the abrupt departure last fall of Arif Lalani, which the BC government directory indicates left the ministry without any ADMs. The province posted the opportunity in November with an application deadline of December 7.

BC Fruit Growers Association general manager Glen Lucas says Koski’s experience will be an asset to the ministry.

“There’s been a few vacancies and gaps over the past couple of years and it’s fantastic to see some fresh new faces,” he says. “Michelle Koski has great experience and we know her from many programs that we’ve worked together with [her] on.”

She also leaves a strong foundation for IAFBC as it grows its role as a program administrator.

“Our loss is their gain. She was an amazing CEO,” says IAFBC chair Jack DeWit. “She was hard working and has really good organizational skills and really led the organization to the higher level from where we were at before. I think Michelle will be a real asset for the whole ag branch in Victoria.”

Lucas says the new faces at the ministry offers a fresh start at the beginning of a new year.

“Everyone is new there. From the minister, deputy minister, assistant deputy ministers – so the top leadership team is all new in the last year, and we’re very excited to be working with them and seeing the new directions that are going to emerge,” he says.

6 days ago

A BC Forest Practices Board investigation has found overgrazing has damaged grasslands in the Coutlee Range Unit near Merritt — and the range-use plan meant to prevent it was unenforceable. With complaints about overgrazing on the rise and grasslands covering just 1% of BC's land mass, the findings raise fresh questions about how the province manages one of its most vulnerable — and valuable — food-producing ecosyste#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

Board finds overgrazing rules unenforceable unmeasurable

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MERRITT – A BC Forest Practices Board investigation has found instances of non-compliance related to overgrazing have damaged open grasslands in the Mine pasture, part of the Coutlee Range Unit near...

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Several ranchers in recent years have gone into temporary non use on that range , so that means the grass should grow. But drought conditions/lack of rain and snow don’t allow that to happen . Dried up springs , creeks waterholes in various pastures add to over grazing where there is water , as livestock and everything else stay close to the water source . So even though less cattle are on it , over grazing appears. There is a large volume of horses on it 365 days/year which is wrong ! They pull grass right out of the ground when it’s just trying to grow ,, opens the door for weeds to grow in. That don’t help it. Aging infrastructure ( fences) laying on the ground, pipe line building , ( lack of commitment to fence maintenance) amongst all users contributes also to over grazing. Recreational atv users leaving gates open between pastures allows livestock to go back or ahead in pastures also expidites over grazing. Logging ( bcts) has no problem laying out cut locks on both sides of a fence , then it gets smashed down during logging and they don’t take responsibility to stand it back up or clean the cattle gaurds out when they are done , that happened 4 years ago on pasture 5 up there . I bet it is still not fixed . There are lots of contributing factors to the problem.

Tragedy of the commons.

I looked through the report. I saw nothing about the effects of noxious weeds on productive grasslands. This particular area is vulnerable because of the Ministry’a efforts to diversify the use of the Grasslands.

This pasture is under tremendous pressure not only from cattle but from irresponsible local residents who treat it as a landfill dumping all manner of household debris here. And don't even get me started on the mud bogging and camping in sensitive riparian areas. The feral horses are in this pasture 365 days a year just hammering it. Would sure be nice to see some enforcement action on people who are intentionally ripping up the grasslands and riparian areas. Cattle could be a valuable resource for rebuilding soils and native grasses in this area with the help of electric fencing and/or e-collars. The humans will be harder to manage.

The Forest and Range Practices Act was written by lawyers for global forest licencee shareholders. Results-based = unenforceable.

Also, can we talk about the impact of a pipeline being built through the middle of this field for multiple years?

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