Students seek answers re: Bill 6 at town hall

Several Olds College students attended the Bill 6 public consultation meeting on Dec. 9, with some asking questions of Labour Minister Lori Sigurdson and Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier.

Polly Anuszewski is a second-year agriculture management student. She asked whether occupational health and safety standards would be included in post-secondary education curricula for programs such as hers.

Sigurdson is also the province's minister of advanced education. She said schools would want to respond to student needs. Carlier said Anuszewski's suggestion was a good one.

The two ministers, along with officials from occupational health and safety, employment standards and the Workers' Compensation Board, visited the Cow Palace to hear from about 950 farmers and ranchers.

The controversial Bill 6, which lifts exemptions from workers' compensation, occupational safety regulations and employment standards for farms and ranches, passed in the legislature on Dec. 10. The bill was amended last week so it would only apply to farms and ranches with one or more paid employees.

Morgan Becker, 21, also had a question about occupational health and safety. She asked ministers how they expect farmers to pay for fines.

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, fines range from $100 to $500, with administration penalties as high as $10,000 per violation, per day.

Those are the technical details that still need to be worked out, Sigurdson said.

In cases of non-compliance, departments work with employers so that they can achieve compliance, Carlier said.

Lineups for questions were long and the panel spent more than two hours answering them.

However, Alisa Donnelly, who graduates from agriculture management with a major in crop production didn't get to ask hers.

Donnelly wanted to know why couldn't the government delay the bill and invest in farm safety education programs.

"Come back with a better, well-understood bill. And in the meantime, take the money they would invest in inspectors and invest in educational programs. My first off-farm job this year was working directly under a farm production specialist for an Ag service board in a county. We provided a huge farm safety day and it worked great, so why not implement that at the provincial level," she said.

Like many others, Donnelly disagreed with being limited to Workers' Compensation Board insurance, when there might be better options.

Ken Taks' family holds farmland near Didsbury and Crossfield but their main residence is just north of Olds. They export hay and also have some cattle.

Taks was satisfied with the late amendments to Bill 6. But in his view, it should not have required a huge public outcry for them to be made.

"Asking for forgiveness rather than permission is something a little bit dishonest to me. But as far as what the current legislation is, I would like to see some more consultation done."

These days, the Taks farm only hires one or two workers per year. At one point, they could take on as many as 20.

He predicts other farms and ranches will upgrade their equipment and hire fewer people.

"There are times when my brother and I take on more and more work around the farm just so we can get by without hiring extra people."

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