LETHBRIDGE – Louise and Lynden Knodel farm north of Coaldale with their two children. Their 11-year-old son Mark wants to be a farmer when he grows up, just like his dad. Now, his mom is concerned that Bill 6 could change that.
“His love of farming runs so deep, I swear it’s in the marrow of his bones. You can’t take that out of a kid. This is his lifelong dream and I would really feel hurt if someone who ran some legislation through without consulting us made choices that affect his future.”
The Knodel’s rely on family and a few retired part-time employees to make their operation viable. Lynden Knodel says there are too many unanswered questions.
“Which people does it apply to? Which people don’t it apply to? Is it for paid help, is it for volunteer help, for friends or family? Where does it all fit in? We don’t know.”
Minister of Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour Lori Sigurdson says the legislation won’t prevent kids or neighbors from pitching in, and that consultations are underway.
“We want to absolutely work with them because family farms are unique to Alberta and we care very much about working with them and being fair for everyone.”
Consultation after the fact doesn’t sit well with Knodel. He wants to know what the bill means for family farms and how Workers Compensation and Occupational Health and Safety will apply.
“Any farmer that doesn’t have liability insurance would be flirting with disaster, I think. So, do we need a redundant version of that insurance? I don’t think so.”
Alison Clapton runs an equine operation south of Lethbridge. She fears Bill 6 is being rushed through the Legislature and could have long term ramifications.
“They want to write the test before they study for the exam, you can’t lump us all into one big group like that because it’s just not fair.”
There are consultation meetings set for southern Alberta, but all of them are full.
“We can expand it, I think we go right now till December 16,” said Minister Sigurdson. “We may have more consultations in the new year, so I just really encourage Albertans to be in touch with us if they feel we haven’t, because we did augment the consultations already but we are happy to do more.”
Farmers are still hopeful the government will wait until after the consultations are done to move forward.
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