Newly re-elected Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre MLA Jason Nixon says the new United Conservative Party (UCP) government plans to work closely with farmers and ranchers over the next four years to address outstanding issues and concerns.
Nixon soundly defeated seven challengers on April 16 to win a second term in the riding. The riding includes parts of Mountain View County.
In a post-election interview last week, Nixon outlined some of the new government’s plans, including scrapping the controversial Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers (Bill 6), which gives Workers' Compensation Board coverage to non-family farm workers.
The new UPC government will be scrapping Bill 6 and replacing it with new farm-related legislation in the near future, he said.
“We want to repeal Bill 6 and work with farmers and ranchers on any legislation going forward with full consultation,” he said. “The platform is clear, Bill 6 will be rescinded.
“(Farmers and ranchers) have a commitment from our government that they won’t see things like they saw with the NDP when they saw unilateral decisions up in Edmonton and not consultation with industry.
“One of our big focuses in agricultural will be working with farmers and ranchers to remove red tape and to get more markets open. We will be lobbying the federal government to increase market access.”
While Bill 6 will be rescinded, the government plans to put in new legislation regarding agriculture workers, he said
“We recognize, because industry has told us, that there are some components of it that are helpful and we will work with industry to put in stuff around WCB but Bill 6 will be gone,” he said.
Asked about the timeline for Bill 6 to be rescinded, he said, “Bill 6 is high on the priority list. They are working right now to figure out the legislative agenda for the spring. It is high on the list.”
Nixon says the new government also plans to focus some of its early efforts on addressing the ongoing canola trade dispute with China, where that country is restricting imports of Canadian canola.
“So much of that is a federal issue, so much of it is out of the province’s hands, but we are very concerned about what is taking place with the canola situation,” he said.
“As soon as we have an agriculture minister, that will be one of their highest priorities, to be talking to the federal government to try to rectify this situation.”
Nixon says the new government also plans to work closely with rural municipalities, including in this region, to address infrastructure funding issues and concerns.
“We’ve got to come up with a long-term financial plan between our municipal governments and the province,” he said. “We have committed to those municipal government to coming up with a formula that works for them and is stable and predictable.
“In the coming weeks that’s what we will be working on between their representatives and the province.”
Having area MLAs on the government benches, instead of in opposition, will be helpful to the region in areas such as education and health, he said.
“It’s a big opportunity to put the issues that matter to this consistency around the government table instead of the opposition table. In our area we have issues such as funding rural education properly, supporting our rural hospitals and agriculture.”
