Farm Freedom And Safety Act Introduced To Protect Farmers – StrathmoreNow.com

Bill 26, also known as theFarm Freedom and Safety Act, has been introduced to address how employment standards, workers compensation, labour relations, and occupational health and safety laws that apply to farms and ranches. The bill was developed following extensive consultation with farmers, ranchers and workers. It recognizes thatfarms are unlike other businesses and need more flexibility to balance the unique economic pressures of farming with the need for a common-sense farm safety regime.

Devin Dreeshen, Alberta's Minister of Agriculture and Forestry said, We promised Albertans we would consult first and legislate second and thats exactly what we did. Weve taken this feedback and built common-sense farm workplace legislation that works for people, not against them.

The proposed legislation fulfills the governments commitment to consult with farmers and ranchers to build farm workplace legislation that works for them. The government is committed to restoring balance, fairness and common sense to the regulation of Albertas agriculture sector by repealing and replacing the previous governments failed Bill 6 legislation.

Rhonda Mulligan from Tri M Farms said, Farmers asked for these changes to give us the flexibility to run our businesses and build a program collectively that works for everybody. This government has really listened to and responded to our concerns. Modern farms are highly safety-conscious operations and we take care of our farm workers like they are family.

Tom Steve, Alberta Wheat and Barley Commission/general manager of Alberta Barley said, In terms of the overall shape of the industry, consultation has been a critical feature of the new government for Bill 6 and theFarm Freedom and Safety Act. We didnt have that under the previous government in 2015 when those changes were rolled out. We are very encouraged and optimistic about the future shape of farm safety legislation in Alberta.

Grassroots conversations, industry meetings, engagement sessions and an online survey were just some of the ways Albertas farmers and ranchers gave their input on practical farm workplace rules.

Albert Cramer, president of the Alberta Greenhouse Growers Association said, The greenhouse industry is very thankful to the Government of Alberta and, in particular, to Minister Dreeshen for his support in recognizing greenhouses as farms. Being excluded from the definition of farms under the Employment Standards Code was a huge challenge for our industry and we are grateful that this has been rectified in theFarm Freedom and Safety Act.

Some of the changes theFarm Freedom and Safety Actwould bring would be, allowing employers to have a choice when it comes to workplace insurance, protecting family farms from legislated and regulatory cost increases, ensuring basic safety standards on all farms and others that would protect and benefit farmers.