Work on Bill 6 could start after seeding

The government would like to introduce alternative legislation this year, Minister Dreeshen said

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Consultations on replacing Bill 6 with a United Conservative Party (UCP) piece of farm legislation could take place later this spring, Alberta’s new ag minister said.

The UCP platform during the election campaign included doing away with Bill 6 and introducing the Farm Freedom and Safety Act. The law would require employers to keep workplace insurance for farm workers but give them the choice of buying insurance from a private provider or the Workers Compensation Board.

But no work on the bill will start until farmers are able to be part of the conversation, said Devin Dreeshen, Alberta’s ag minister.

“As soon as seeding is over, and farmers have more time to actually be consulted, the hope is that we can actually do that very shortly, and ultimately introduce something later this year,” he said, Okotoks Online reported.

Alberta’s new Official Opposition will debate the government’s pending farm safety decisions.

NDP leader Rachel Notley and 23 other NDP representatives were sworn in during a ceremony at the Alberta legislature.

Lorne Dach, the MLA for Edmonton-McClung, will serve as the party’s agriculture critic.

Dach has nearly 30 years of experience as a real estate broker and served on the board of homeEd, Edmonton’s non-profit housing organization. During Notley’s tenure as Premier, Dach served as deputy chair of the standing committee on public accounts and deputy chair of the standing committee on legislative offices.