Alberta premier defends makeup of farm safety working groups

Premier Rachel Notley is responding to criticisms over the appointeesto six working groups tasked with setting regulations for the province's controversialfarm safety act.

The groups were announced Friday by Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier and Labour Minister Christina Gray. They will examine how occupational health and safety, workers compensation, labour relations and employment standards should apply to farms and ranches.

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The directors of Wheat Growers Alberta are upset that relatively few members of the Alberta Agriculture Farm and Ranch Safety Coalition, or AgCoalition, were among the appointments.

They also note the groups are being chaired by professional mediators and lawyers, not farmers.

"Beyond the chairs, 78 working group members were announced, with 23 being part of the AgCoalition, which means the AgCoalition's representation of over 97 per cent of the ag sector in Alberta will represent 29 per cent of the government working group tables and zero per cent of the chair positions," the group said in a news release issued Friday.

A coalition of 30 agriculture groups was created in January to represent the industry's concerns during the consultation process leading up to the introduction of Bill 6.They are unhappy with how the bill was rolled out last fall and call it a "sham of a process" that's about "Big Labour" and not farm safety.

Notley said in legislature question period Tuesday that the appointees were split between the people who run and own farms and farm workers.

"Farm owners and farm managers, there are 35 of them on these, and there are 27 farm workers," she said."So to be clear, if there is a concern about balance, it's not about workers being overrepresented."

Notley said the point of the working groups is to have people have productive conversations with a mediator to find a common cause.

Discussions on regulations are set to start next month.

The lawangered farmers and ranchers across the province over concerns it would threaten traditional family farms.

On Jan. 1, farms and ranchers had to start offering mandatory Workers' Compensation Board coverage to paid workers, who were also covered by occupational health and safety rules.

Widespread protests forced the government to exempt family members and children from the rules.

The working groups will discuss industry-specific issues tobe addressedthrough regulations.