BC United is calling on the provincial government to intervene in the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative debacle and help fruit tree growers.

“The NDP has made a mess of this situation and now it is time for the Attorney General to step in to stop the liquidation of the cooperative’s assets and provide the necessary transition funding to allow farmers access to these vital facilities,” Delta South MP Ian Paton said in a news release earlier this week.

He added that this was essential to prevent a complete collapse of the industry while protecting the rights of cooperative members.

BC United wants to temporarily halt the liquidation of the cooperative’s assets and provide transitional financing to allow the cooperative to continue this harvest and provide access to its cold storage facilities to prevent the local fruit from spoiling.

The party also wants to conduct an independent investigation to examine the events that led to the current crisis.

BC Tree Fruits Cooperative (BCTFC) filed for creditor protection on August 12.

A press release from the BCTFC stated that on August 6, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce issued a demand for payment to repay the debts of the cooperative and its subsidiaries Growers Supply Company Limited and BC Tree Fruits Industries Ltd.

According to BC Tree Fruits, the crisis has been caused by declining tree fruit volumes, increased competition from local packhouses, aging facilities and equipment, local and Washington State price pressures, a decline in contract growers/BCTFC members and significant impacts of climate change.

It says attempts to right-size the company were met with numerous attempts to block land sales, make board changes or change board leadership. These disruptions delayed land sales and equipment installation and reduced yields for protected growers.

The last straw was the bad weather in 2024, which reduced the cherry harvest by 85 percent, while other stone fruits such as peaches disappeared.

Paton said he did not want the high-tech processing center in Oliver to be sold in parts.

“Then it is lost forever,” he said.

Without the cooperative, small fruit growers would have to turn to a private packer who might or might not take the fruit from them, or who might offer it at a low price, he said.

Producers need access to the thousands of containers, but these are currently locked.

“If farmers don’t have access to these containers, they have nowhere to store their fruit,” he said.

He added that BC Fruit is known worldwide for the quality of its cherries and apples.

“We can’t afford to miss out on it. The Okanagan is just a great growing area. It makes our wine industry famous and it makes our fruit industry famous,” said Paton, the shadow minister for agriculture.

The province has set up a panel to address issues such as export certification, logistics and cash flow, and is also establishing links between producers and other storage and packing facilities, according to an Aug. 13 press release from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

In addition, the province is expanding its AgriStability program to increase the compensation rate to 90 percent and double the compensation cap for all farmers for the 2024 program year.

This will provide farmers in need with emergency aid of around 15 million US dollars. “This improvement will help stabilize farm income and help farmers manage the increasing risk posed by extreme weather conditions,” a press release said.

In addition, the new Tree Fruit Climate Resiliency program will provide $5 million to help fruit farmers purchase equipment and undertake projects that were not eligible under previous programs. This will strengthen farms’ resilience and preparation for extreme weather.

Sukhpaul Bal, president of the BC Cherry Association, said extreme weather over the past five years has devastated BC agriculture

He said BC needs an agricultural strategy that looks at the entire food system and an “unprecedented investment in agriculture.”

-with files from Castanet