The Alberta government’s proposed legislation to bring workplace safety regulations to farms across the province is being met with concern. So much so that debate in the legislature on the initiative has been suspended.
Area farmers and ranchers feel Bill 6 – the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act, is being rolled out too quickly without enough consultation from family farmers and ranchers.
Hundreds of farmers protested outside the legislature building in Edmonton on Nov. 30, prompting Premier Rachel Notley’s New Democratic Party government to shelve planned debate at the second reading of Bill 6.
Travis Eklund, owner of Wine Glass Ranch southwest of Cochrane along Jumping Pound Creek, runs about 400 head of cattle on 2,500 acres in tandem with LJ Ranch. A fifth-generation cattle rancher, his family has been ranching in the area for 130 years. His dad runs LJ Ranch alongside Wine Glass. It’s a total family operation. They’re verified beef producers that won an environmental stewardship award in 2004.
“We’re not opposed to the spirit of Bill 6,” Eklund states. “It’s just the content and the way it’s being handled.”
It’s the pace at which the legislation is being processed, the lack of consultation and the sweeping scope of Bill 6 that concern Eklund, despite a reassuring tone from Lori Sigurdson, Alberta Minster of Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour.
“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,” Sigurdson says. “Neighbours and relatives will continue to help each other out in times of need, just as they do in every other province.”
Yet, Eklund feels the initiative currently makes little room for the needs of family farming in Alberta. While the proposed legislation does move Alberta’s agriculture industry in line with regulations across Canada, it’s missing key components other provinces have in their ag laws.
“It’s going to have effects the government hasn’t even thought about,” Eklund says of Alberta’s Bill 6. “The government starts out by saying it brings us on par with all other provinces, and that’s right. The part they aren’t telling people is that every other province has exceptions, exemptions, for family farms and ranches. That’s one of the key things they aren’t telling people.”
Other concerns include Alberta farms having to be Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) compliant by Jan. 1, yet the technical rules and requirements won’t be on the books until 2017.
“So we have a full year where we’re in limbo. We don’t know if these inspectors are allowed on our place. What are they looking for, what are we supposed to do?”
He insists any farm/ranch legislation should take into account the size and scope of the operation.
“Bill 6 is lumping family farms in with these huge, corporate farms where they hire 20 guys seasonally and are combining 20,000 acres. Factory farms. Maybe those are different. Maybe those need a more business-like structure. But family farms and ranches are not a business. They are families working together.”
Eklund goes as far as to offer a solution to the issue.
“My idea is the government creates a new branch and calls it Alberta Agriculture Health and Safety. Their role would be to look after the health and safety of agriculture operations only,” he says. “Their people would be specifically trained. They would have intimate knowledge of agriculture. You’re not trying to fit a square peg into a round hole by making agriculture for OHS or vice-versa.
“It would have a fringe benefit of creating jobs.”
The government is currently holding consultation sessions with agriculture stakeholders across the province to fine-tune its legislation. Town hall meetings slated for Dec. 3 in Lethbridge, Dec. 4 in Medicine Hat, Dec. 7 in Leduc, Dec. 8 in Vegreville and Dec. 9 in Olds are all booked to capacity already. The Dec. 14 consultation session in Athabasca is still showing available seats.
For more information, visit alberta.ca, scroll down to the “news” tab at bottom and click on the “Farm and ranch workers” link.
