Despite all the uproar to the recent Bill 6, I must say my husband Glenn and I are in favour of this bill.
I have had people in our community ask me to sign the petition against the bill. I said “no”. People were then very confused and slightly upset. I took this opportunity to explain to them why I was in favour of this bill.
Until Bill 6 was presented, Alberta was the only province to have no legislation that protected agricultural industry workers and owner/operators. This is long overdue and people need to really understand the reason why we need this legislation.
Farms are competing with all other industries for skilled workers, ones that are subject to the basic rules of workers' compensation, occupational health and safety and labour standards.
Because of Bill 6, farm workers are now covered by no-fault WCB which means in the event of an injury they can receive compensation for lost time, the injury itself, rehabilitation, and whatever other aids they need to return to the workforce. There is no private insurance that offers this – a rumour that has been spread by those against Bill 6.
When farmers or farm labourers carry private insurance, the farmer runs the risks of being sued by the insurance company for not meeting safety standards on the farm. The Workers' Compensation Board does not sue farmers. It can only force farmers to pay a premium for the employees. It prevents farmers from being sued.
The owner/operator has the option to put themselves and members of their family under WCB. This is an insurance, which we all understand. Insurance is best when we need it. In the event of an insured owner/operator being injured, they will be completely covered the same as explained for an employee, with the additional benefit that WCB is willing to do whatever is necessary for that owner/operator to be able to continue to operate his farm, including modifications to his vehicles and equipment.
Occupational health and safety (OHS) standards are not coming into effect until 2017. We have ample opportunity to let our government know what standards we want on this. None of us wants to lose skilled workers to injury or death. It is therefore a benefit to have OHS, because when there is a serious accident causing injury or death an investigation will be done. At present, the police and/or coroner carry out the only investigation into farm accidents that leads to the decision of whether criminal charges will be laid.
Remember, we are competing with all other industries for skilled labour. Labour standards provide potential employees entitlement to holiday pay, overtime or time off in lieu, ability to refuse work they feel is too dangerous (without repercussion), and minimum wage, just to name a few.
This makes the agricultural industry a viable option to those seeking employment as the other industries are already providing these. With Bill 6 potential employees will have the same protection in agriculture as any other industry.
I hope this helps people understand why this legislation has value for the agricultural industry. My husband and I are not alone in supporting Bill 6. We have talked to other professional farmers who also support this legislation.
Patricia Norman is a rancher-farmer in the Innisfail area with her husband Glenn. She was the Alberta New Democratic Party's candidate in the riding of Innisfail-Sylvan Lake in the past two provincial elections.
