Government turns Bill 6 stallion into a gelding, but at least the horse is alive

Despite compromises made through work with farmers, UCP has vowed to kill the rules

It is a stallion that became a gelding. But at least it’s a gelding that escaped the slaughterhouse. For now, at least.

The Alberta government’s farm safety legislation — the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act, but better known as Bill 6 — will be complete by the end of the year.

The final regulations governing paid farm and ranch workers will take effect Dec. 1.

Those regulations took almost three years to figure out because, in part, working on a farm or ranch is unlike working in any other industry.

The workers have to do deal with large animals, heavy machinery, odd hours, long hours, extreme weather and hazardous materials. And sometimes all in the same day.

The government held a news conference Wednesday to announce the new rules will cover, for example, whether the paid workers will have to wear a seatbelt while driving a tractor (they won’t as long as they’re driving slowly), whether they can be raised and lowered in the bucket of heavy machinery (they can as long as the machinery is stationary), and whether they can ride on equipment not designed for passengers (they can if the vehicle is driving slowly over level terrain).

Bill 6 was introduced in November of 2015 by a wellmeaning government that wanted to protect the province’s 14,000 paid farm employees who, when it came to working conditions, were living in the Wild West.

Working on a farm is one of the most hazardous jobs in Canada. In Alberta, however, paid farm workers were not covered by the occupational health and safety laws that protect just about every other worker in the province and every other farm worker in Canada.

If they were injured on the job and their employer hadn’t voluntarily covered them under the Workers’ Compensation Board, their only recourse was to launch a lawsuit.

Our farm machinery might be from the 21st century, but our laws protecting the employees running those machines were positively Dickensian.

That changed under Bill 6. The act requires all farms and ranches to follow basic health and safety regulations. That includes covering all employees under the WCB.

Workers are offered proper training and are able to refuse unsafe work without being fired. And if they’re killed or injured, provincial inspectors will be able to enter a farm site to do inspections and, if necessary, impose penalties.

The changes have been a long time coming not just because farm work is unlike any other type of work. But because the Alberta government stepped into a cow patty the moment it introduced Bill 6 in 2015.

It bungled the launch of the legislation.

The initial wording made it sound as if the government was turning the family farm into a state-scrutinized institution where mom and dad and the kids couldn’t milk a cow without filling out forms and donning safety gear.

Farmers and ranchers erupted in anger. Hundreds gathered on the front steps of the legislature building to hold anti-Bill 6 demonstrations where some of the protesters were literally carrying pitchforks.

The government responded with amendments to make it clear the law would not apply to family-owned farms and ranches run by family members. It also added a whole list of people deemed to be a “family member,” including grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and first cousins.

Even though the government

There might still be sticking points among other farmers but I fully support where we’ve landed with these common-sense suggestions.

did make sure paid workers were covered by the WCB as of January, 2016 it began to backtrack. Because of the anti-Bill 6 backlash the government stomped on the brakes when it came to writing and enacting regulations.

It set up six working groups with representatives of farmers and ranchers to study, among other things, employment standards and working conditions.

The protests have ended. Industry representatives at a government-run news conference Wednesday seemed happy with Bill 6’s compromises.

“We’ve landed in a good place,” said Albert Kamps, chairman of a group called AgCoalition. “There might still be sticking points among other farmers but I fully support where we’ve landed with these common-sense suggestions and common-sense guidelines to use.”

But the story is not over. Alberta’s official Opposition United Conservative Party is still promising to kill the new safety regulations should it win the 2019 provincial election.

“The announcement today does not change our commitment to scrap Bill 6,” said the UCP in a statement Wednesday. “It is clear Bill 6 needs to be sent back to the drawing board with proper consultation with farmers and ranchers from the start.”

Depending on the results of the election, Bill 6 might yet be sent to the slaughterhouse.