Cochrane-area ranchers and farmers are keeping a wary eye on Edmonton following the passing of Bill 6 into provincial law. The contentious farm-labour law aimed at providing labour-law support for “hired hands” is still a work in progress.
But its receiving Royal Assent on Dec. 10 has farmers here concerned.
“There has to be clarity. If there isn’t clarity, nothing positive will come out of it. For industry to make a game plan and to look into the future, you need clarity. You need to know where the lines are drawn. How it’s going to affect your business plan moving forward. Without that clarity, we can’t make those business plans,” says John Copithorne, a fifth-generation rancher in the Cochrane area. “For me, it just looks like a government that saw some low-hanging fruit that it could rip and tear into that the countryside wouldn’t react to. They underestimated that. It’s really come back to bite them.”
So much so that Rachel Notley’s New Democratic Party (NDP) government is offering extended consultations with stakeholders aimed at cultivating clarity for the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act while building trust between farmers and government.
“Consultations will be designed to allow farmers, ranchers, industry representatives and other stakeholders to provide input prior to government drafting regulations, and after regulations are drafted,” says Banff-Cochrane MLA Cam Westhead. “Work will also be undertaken to research and review regulations in other provinces where similar laws already exist.”
Travis Eklund at Wineglass Ranch just outside Cochrane has been in touch with government officials over the course of the process leading up to Bill 6 being declared law and says work must be done for new regulations to make sense at the ground level. He mentions the diversity of agricultural operators in Alberta, and the variants in how each farm approaches similar tasks, as details that may flummox the Occupational Health & Safety guidelines as they currently exist.
“There are some positive steps, but they haven’t looked at all the different permutations of agriculture and see how is our decision going to affect these guys? And how are they going to affect these guys?” Eklund asks. “The other tricky bit is OH&S inspectors have total jurisdiction for the next year before the rules are written. Nobody knows what that means. Is the neighbour’s 1952 Cockshutt Tractor that you have to step up over the PTO to get into the cab, is that OHS compliant?”
It’s these kinds of details the government says it intends to address after six “engagement tables” are appointed by Feb. 1.
“Input is needed from farmers and ranchers on how to best implement the occupational heath and safety, labour relations and employment standards legislation, as well as determining what supports the industry might need from government,” Westhead iterates. “There will be ongoing consultation around technical standards for the Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) code.”
Copithorne, who’s outfit runs approximately 300 head of cattle in the Cochrane area and also grows feed, hopes extended stakeholder consultations will move the process in a direction away from where he sees it now.
“So instead of taking the stick and beating us over the head with it, put a carrot on the end of it and you watch the workplace, and guess what, we’ll start reducing their unemployment rates, too,” he says. “Get people to work in this industry.”
