Since the Notley government announced Bill 6 last week, the public outrage that has occurred speaks volumes to how the Albertan’s directly impacted by this feel. This so-called “Enhanced Protection For Farm And Ranch Workers Act” has the farming community of Alberta fuming mad and frustrated.
If Bill 6 should be passed into law, Alberta farm and ranch workers would no longer be excluded from Occupational Health and Safety protection — a right already held by agricultural employees in every other province in Canada. WCB coverage will be mandatory, would also force the agricultural sector to provide minimum wage and vacation pay, Occupational Health and Safety will have jurisdiction over farming operations and labour standards on hours of work, child labour, overtime, unionization, etc. will be introduced.
Once news of Bill 6 spread through Alberta communities, it didn’t take long for Albertans to jump into action to have their voices heard and attempt to stop this from becoming law. Some took to signing a petition entitled “Stop NDP Bill 6, Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act” which at the time of this article has 21,147 signatures. The creator of the petition, Shandele Battle, states that “Bill 6 will change the family farm way of life and how efficiently farm and ranches are run in Alberta! We have had such a decrease in the family farms for the last decade and legislation like this will force more to dissolve!! Until the NDP government can show us they have any experience or knowledge about what really goes on with a family farm and the fundamentals of all that is included, we need to stop this bill!”
A more visual approach was taken on Friday November 27th as hundreds of people rallied outside the Alberta Legislature displaying signs that clearly showed their non-support of Bill 6.
Closer to home, Indus farmer Ken Frieze and MLA Leela Aheer organized a meeting with local farmers on November 28th at the Indus Rec Centre. Given the short notice it is clearly a sign of the anger and dismay over this bill that over 100 concerned farmers showed up to discuss with one another and relay their concerns to their MLA.
Come of the concerns from those that attended included:
* Everyone is interested in farm safety. After all these are family operations and farmers generally treat their hired staff as family also.
* This bill has been introduced with zero consultation with those it directly affects.
* Education, not legislation, is the best way to approach this.
* Farmers live at their workplace, and are on call 24/7. Every other province with this type of legislation recognises that family farms are unique entities and have crafted legislation in consultation with the experts, farmers.
Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour Minister Lori Sigurdson released a statement saying, “I want to assure those families that Bill 6 does nothing more than bring Alberta’s safety standards on farm and ranching operations in line with every other province in Canada. The concerns I’m hearing about most, relate to what the legislation means for family, friends and neighbours who pitch in on the farm. I can assure you that farm kids will continue to make their communities proud in their local 4-H program, just as they do in every other province. Neighbours and relatives will continue to help each other out in times of need, just as they do in every other province. These customary parts of farm life will go on as before, while enhancing protections for employees.
Our legislation allows us the flexibility to develop common-sense regulations to achieve this goal. That is what we have started consulting on. And that is what we will ensure is achieved before the regulations are introduced”.
In an open letter from Brian Jean and MLAs of the Wildrose Official Opposition, Mr. Jean stated “Family farming is a way of life in Alberta. It is intrinsic to the fabric of our rural communities, and has been for more than 100 years. One of the most enduring values of rural life is our commitment to take care of each other. It’s just one of the things that make rural Alberta truly unique”.
Mr. Jean concluded his letter stating, “Wildrose is asking the government to pause this process and listen to farm families. We are also seeking an amendment to ensure family farms are not unfairly lumped in with larger corporate entities.
To make this happen, we need your help. We need you to get in touch with your MLAs. Make a call. Write a letter. Attend one of the government’s after-the-fact consultations, scheduled from Nov. 26 to Dec. 14”.
