Alberta NDP Leader Would Consider Resurrecting Controversial Legislation to Regulate Farms

A farm tractor and baler sit in a hay field on a misty morning near Cremona, Alberta, on Aug. 30, 2016. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

With just a few days before the Alberta government drops the writ for an election, Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley said if elected, she would consider resurrecting Bill 6, a controversial bill that was put in place in 2016 to regulate farms and ranches. The bill was later repealed by the United Conservative Party (UCP) government.

Notley said at a news conference on April 27, “There is no question that we remain concerned about safety for farm workers all across the province.”

She said when the UCP “undid Bill 6, they undid a whole bunch of other things, like for instance, a minimum wage. A lot of people don’t know that farm workers in Alberta actually aren’t necessarily entitled to be paid the minimum wage.”

“That seems a bit inappropriate. So we would be looking at it.”

Notley said she “learned from last time, and we know that we need to consult with farmers and employers in that sector.” She said that her government, while in power, had reached “a lot of agreement with key leaders within the sector.”

“And so we would go back to where that work had left off. And then we would hope to be able to move forward on some elements of it after we’ve had a chance to really talk with folks in the sector,” said Notley.

A farmer harvests wheat on his farm near Vulcan, Alberta, in this file photo. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Regulations

When introduced in 2015, the bill added occupational health and safety regulations to all of Alberta’s farms and ranches, and made Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) coverage mandatory for farmers. It also mandated Alberta’s more than 40,000 farms at the time to comply with labour standards, such as vacation pay and minimum wage.

A document published in November 2015 by WCB, then later removed, said mandatory coverage would be required for children and unpaid labour, which caused uproar from rural landowners.

The WCB document read, “If you are operating a for-profit farming operation (i.e., one which sells goods commercially to individuals or other organizations), you must cover any unpaid workers, including family members and children, performing work on your farm.”

“You will be asked to provide a ‘value of service’ for the work they perform,” the document stated.

At the time, Notley blamed “miscommunication” for the protests around the bill. “As the premier, that ultimately rests with me,” she said. “But I also, as the premier, have to think about the 177 farm workers who are paid, who will be hospitalized between Jan. 1 and Apr. 1,” she said in 2015.

“I’m very, very proud that when passed this fall, this bill will ensure that paid farm workers will finally enjoy the protections enjoyed by every other worker,” she told the legislature at the time.

Protests

Bill 6 resulted in public outrage from the rural community. An estimated 1,500 Alberta farmers protested at the Alberta legislature on Nov. 27, 2015. The crowd began with chants of “Kill Bill 6,” then sang “Naughty Notley Running the Show” to the tune of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”

Town hall meetings in Okotoks and Red Deer at the time were full of angry farmers, while the opposition made it known Notley was abroad at the time at a United Nations climate change meeting.

Soon after, Notley said that there had been a miscommunication and that farm regulations would only apply to paid workers, not family members and children helping out on private farms. The NDP leader said the legislation would not prevent children from doing farm chores, and that she wanted farm workers to be able to refuse unsafe work.

Bill 6 was passed in 2016.

Wheat heads reach for the sun in a field near Cremona, Alberta, on Sept. 6, 2022. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

The UCP campaigned on a promise to scrap the bill and consulted with farmers, finally proposing new legislation that exempted small farms with five or fewer employees from employment standards regulations, and allowed larger farms to choose private insurance or WCB.

On April 27, Innisfail/Sylvan Lake UCP MLA David Dreeshen posted on social media calling the NDP’s talk of reviving the legislation “disastrous.”

“The NDP plans to punish Alberta farm families all over again,” said Dreeshen. He said that in 2015, the NDP publicly “demonized Alberta family farms and falsely accused them of endangering workers and criticized them for not being able to unionize.”

The UCP Party also posted on social media, stating: “Notley has a bitter axe to grind with family farmers and ranchers. Let’s make sure she never gets her chance.”

According to Nate Horner, minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, the NDP does not understand farmers and has no elected members who are farmers and ranchers. “The UCP understands the agricultural sector, which is why our industry is so strong right now, with record high farm cash receipts, livestock market receipts, cattle and calf receipts, and program payments,” he said in a statement issued by the UCP.