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A Surrey potato field has become a flashpoint in discussions about economic reconciliation with local First Nations and provincial food security.

There is no disagreement that the 120-hectare field — a former radar site the federal government is planning to divest — is valuable.

The three First Nations seeking its return say it is the last substantial piece of Crown land in their shared traditional territory and a key part of their cultural and economic future.

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Farmers hoping to save it from development call it “a little piece of California,” because it can be planted and harvested in even the wettest conditions, providing a supply of local potatoes, carrots and cabbage before any other B.C. field crops are ready.

“If it was any other field, we’d say yes, we’ll find somewhere else to farm. But you can’t find another field like this. It’s irreplaceable,” said Tyler Heppell, production manager with Heppell’s Potatoes, the farm company that has leased the land from the federal government for the last 50 years.

The Heppell family has been trying to save the field from development since the City of Surrey identified the property at 192nd Street and 36th Avenue as a possible site for a business park in the early 2000s. Two years ago, when B.C. crops were delayed by a rainy spring, they started a petition to add it to B.C.’s Agricultural Land Reserve. More than 80,000 people signed, with municipal politicians jumping on board.

But Semiahmoo Chief Harley Chappell said the move angered the Semiahmoo, Katzie and Kwantlen Nations, who had been “at the table on and off” with the federal government for over 20 years discussing the return of the land.

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This week, the three nations decided it was time to make a public statement about their intentions “to get the correct information out there.”

Chappell said the vast majority of his nation’s unceded territory has been sold off and urbanized. As the Agricultural Land Commission recognized, it has no jurisdiction over the federal land, and neither do those who wish to see it remain as farmland.

“It is unfortunate that this company has a sense of entitlement to it,” he said. “It’s our turn as First Nations. It’s our turn for reconciliation. And it’s our turn for Canada to do what’s right.”

Chappell said local politicians, including those at the municipal and provincial level, were “misled and lied to” as the momentum grew to add the property to the farmland reserve.

“This has always been a government-to-government discussion,” he said. “There are people speaking who have no right to interfere.”

Chappell pointed out that about half of B.C.’s farmland reserve isn’t used for food production, and the field makes up only a tiny percentage of Surrey’s farmland.

“We’re talking 300 acres — a very small piece of the total land,” he said.

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But Heppell said the land isn’t just another field. The farm company has had strong support from vegetable farmers across the province because it allows them to hold onto market share against competition from imports.

The millions of field vegetables produced each year on the field enter local grocery stores far earlier than those from fields in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior because it is elevated and sandy, with good drainage. That, in effect, holds space for later crops of B.C. vegetables, ensuring a continuity of supply for retailers, and reduces B.C.’s reliance on vegetables imported from California by 250 to 300 truckloads each season.

“Losing this field would affect dozens of farms,” said Heppell. “Large retailers can switch to local food sooner because of it.”

B.C. United MLA Ian Paton said the pandemic has taught British Columbians that “every prime, arable piece of farmland in B.C. capable of growing food for our residents is vitally important to preserve.”

Tristin Bouwman, a PhD candidate at the University of B.C. studying agriculture sustainability, questioned if it was necessary to “sacrifice local food security to achieve reconciliation.”

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The former crop manager for Heppell’s said governments at all levels should work together on reconciliation that maintains food security for future generations.

Heppell suggested the federal government could look at a financial settlement with the three First Nations to keep the land in food production.

But the land itself is important, said Chappell.

While there have been no discussions about how it will be used if returned, no commitments have been made to keep it in food production.

“Economic reconciliation is an extremely important and integral piece to the future of our communities,” he said. “Prior to colonization, we were the richest people in all the lands here, but our wealth was not monetary. Our wealth was access to land, access to resources, and access to territories that we could hunt and gather on.”

Chappell said the three nations are hoping ongoing discussion with the federal government will lead to the land being returned to them by the end of the year.

“The wealthy in this country have built intergenerational wealth off the resources and lands that are unceded. It’s time for our nations to have the same ample opportunities to do the same.”

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Chief Marilyn Gabriel of the Kwantlen First Nation said the land is owed to past, present and future generations of the Semiahmoo, Katzie and Kwantlen.

“It’s time. It’s not the time to talk anymore, it’s time for us to see k’ʷeq’ənəq returned to us,” she said, using the Indigenous name for the land. “I cannot express enough how important this land is to us.”

Chappell said the field was part of a trade route that provided access into the Little Campbell watershed, with a name that loosely means “watching out for our enemies.”

“That’s still a suitable name,” he said.

gluymes@postmedia.com

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