Provincial Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen and Lethbridge East MLA Nathan Neudorf get feedback from area farmers

By Lara Fominoff

Local farmers, ag producers offer feedback on Bill 6 ahead of “repeal and replace” legislation

Aug 22, 2019 | 12:19 PM

Local farmers, ag producers offer feedback on Bill 6 ahead of “repeal and replace” legislation

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A hotel conference room in Lethbridge was packed Wednesday afternoon – with farmers from across southern Alberta offering their two cents on the Notley government’s farm and ranch safety legislation – otherwise known as Bill 6.

Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen is travelling the province gathering input from farmers, producers and others who have a stake in the matter, promising to not only get rid of the bill, but to put together something completely different and new – likely by the end of the year.

Bill 6, also known as the “Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act,” was introduced in 2015 by the former NDP government and passed in 2016. According to Lethbridge West MLA Shannon Phillips, Alberta was the only province in the country where farm or ranch workers didn’t have the same kind of workplace rights and protections as workers in other industries. If someone died or was badly hurt on a farm, provincial officials couldn’t investigate.

“This is also about having access to the WCB (Worker’s Compensation Board) for medium sized operators who didn’t before, and having that reasonable access like every other employer in the province to an insurance scheme, where they do not end up being sued if they end up hurt on the job,” she said.

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“I think that what’s probably happening here is that the UCP is under a great deal of pressure from big insurance companies, who want to go back to the wild west, which didn’t necessarily work for medium sized producers either,” She continued. “Given their premiums were high, not everything was covered and so on. There’s a reason why we have the WCB in this country.”

However, during the meeting, Dreeshen told the crowd, “I won’t sugar coat and say Bill 6 was a piece of good legislation.”

While it’s not clear exactly what the new provincial government legislation will encompass, the new “Farm, Freedom and Safety Act” could require farmers to have workplace injury coverage, but give them the option of getting it from the WCB, or from a third party, as long as basic standards are followed.

Indeed, many farmers and producers like Dale Snow say they are concerned with safety, but they are unhappy with the way in which the original Bill was formulated and what they say was a lack of input from affected parties.

“I’m afraid in the past, we had people making policy that really didn’t know that they didn’t know.”

He says when Bill 6 was first introduced, it was a blanket bill that covered every farm to the maximum and there was such a backlash, it turned into a “political lightening rod.”

“And so, all of a sudden, here we have exemptions. So, that tells me we exempt this group, we exempt that group – so their farm safety doesn’t matter? It should matter to everyone. So, my point is, let’s make something workable for everyone so there isn’t a need for backlash and exemptions… we’re all the same, we’re all concerned. We all do the same things.”

Lethbridge East MLA Nathan Neudorf said the feedback from the farmers is critical.

“They want flexibility. They want a chance to tailor it farm and agriculture. It’s a different lifestyle than what we’re used to in the city…farms are much more free flowing. Where the kids play is where the tractors are parked…so their work site is also where they live and play. So having legislation that allows for that freedom and flexibility…a neighbor, friend, needs a job or they just need some help for a few minutes; being able to do that without having to quote on quote ‘hire them’ and then having them become an employee and subject to legislation is really impacting that lifestyle, that ability to work together.”

But Phillips says the purpose of the legislation they passed, was to prevent farm “horror stories” of the past.

“We can’t have the kinds of stories that we used to hear of people being killed in grain bins and leaving their widow and their children with nothing because there was no coverage on their work sites.”

Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen says not only are the ideas and feedback important, he also wants to send a message to the federal government about what Alberta Farmers are going through right now with countries like China refusing to accept Canadian Canola and all meat exports.

“It’s one thing that the federal government would go and make an announcement on market access loss whether it’s TPP or CITA to certain farmers. But the fact that market access loss to exporting types of farmers whether it be livestock or crops – the fact that there’s no compensation for them I think, really has a lot of farmers scratching their heads, saying that that’s unfair. Farmers should be treated equally, regardless of the type of commodity that they grow or raise, and that’s something this government is fighting for, and continuing to fight for.”

The consultations will continue until the end of August, with three more expected in Grande Prairie, Fairview and High Prairie. Feedback to an online survey will be taken until Aug. 31.