Vicki Huntington is back on the provincial scene.

After deciding not to run in last year’s election, the two-term independent MLA for Delta South has kept a low profile, but now she’s back following the NDP government’s announcement this week that she was one of nine appointed to a new committee to review the Agricultural Land Commission and the Agricultural Land Reserve.

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“Everybody is very dedicated to the Agricultural Land Reserve and I’m quite pleased and honoured to have been chosen to participate. Hopefully we’ll come to some conclusions that strengthen the reserve and the commission,” Huntington told the Optimist.

Huntington, who noted some initial non-binding policy recommendations will be presented to government as early as April, was an outspoken advocate when it came to the ALR during her time in office, including concerns about the potential industrialization of Delta’s farmland.

According to the province, the committee will provide strategic advice, policy guidance and recommendations on how to help revitalize the ALR and ALC to ensure the provincial goals of preserving agricultural land and encouraging farming and ranching continue to be a priority. The committee will be chaired by Jennifer Dyson, with members from throughout the province with diverse agricultural knowledge and experience.

“I am proud and grateful to have attracted British Columbians with the knowledge, expertise, passion and experience that the committee members possess for agriculture,” said Minister of Agriculture Lana Popham in a news release.

“The ALR and the ALC are incredibly important to the health and economic well-being of our province’s future, and making it easier and more efficient for the commission to fulfill its mandate of protecting farmland and encouraging farming is a commitment the B.C. government is delivering on.”

The province notes the committee will share a consultation paper to seek opinions and feedback, as well as host regional meetings to hear opinions and feedback directly from the farming and ranching communities, although none of those meetings have been scheduled for Delta.

The recommendations could include changes to the current legislative, regulatory and administrative framework to the ALR and the ALC. Any legislative changes are targeted for late 2018 or early 2019.

In an interview with the Optimist last summer after she was appointed agriculture minister, Popham noted that as far as the ALC and the changes made to it under the previous Liberal government, her government would look at the way it’s operating to ensure its mandate is being fulfilled.

The current regional panel system, which Popham noted could be subject to political interference, will be reviewed to see whether a single panel is a better way to go.

Noting that as agriculture critic she enjoyed working with Huntington, Popham said an erosion of the ALR over the last 16 years has led to the implied idea by speculators the reserve is a land bank for other purposes.

In an interview after Popham’s appointment, Delta South MLA Ian Paton, the Liberals’ co-agricultural critic, said he has a concerns, including the potential scrapping of the current ALC panel system. It could result in someone from the Lower Mainland without any knowledge of conditions elsewhere making decisions for the rest of the province, he said.

Paton said he’s concerned the government could eliminate a farmer’s ability to draw much needed extra income from his land.