When I travel stateside people often ask where I am from, and what kind of place it is. My standard response is we are similar to Texas, we are oil, and cattle with a world class mountain range on our west side. In the last generation or two we have enjoyed great prosperity, and at times adversity as we see oil go up and down. We also have dealt with BSE and for the most part been able to retain what we call the Alberta advantage.
To me these are very major identifying features of this buoyant economy, and things that recently have come under fire from a less than friendly provincial government.
Enter the Premier Rachel Notley-led NDP machine hell bent on leather to make sure big oil and those that make their living in that sector pay more, without considering the global crisis that oil producers are up against they have decided to levy a carbon tax on everyone. The Suzuki mentality is real here folks and it is going to hurt our way of life, I shudder to think of the damage that can be done through punitive regulation in four years.
Notley is happy to shut down coal fired plants rather than retrofit them to mitigate pollution. The Premier is much more interested in running over to Paris to apologize for our bad behavior on the global stage. I know we are in trouble when Al Gore comes out and praises her efforts. The NDP tries to window dress things with a panel set up to review how the energy industry does business here.
However, it fails to gain any credibility when Notley states she campaigned on a carbon tax and it was essentially a done deal. Guys like me know all too well what the NDP is and what it stands for. Sadly the many that thought the NDP was a reasonable alternative to a tired PC government are about to find out as well. The socialist mentality of wealth distribution will rear its ugly head and further damage an already vulnerable provincial economy.
The oil and gas industry is one thing, but the family farm is quite another issue. We all know that the NDP has a snowballs chance in hell of getting elected in the rural areas so here is what we get. The careless crafting of Bill 6, which will place agriculture under the Workers Compensation Board, and Occupational Health and Safety auspice without any consultation from stakeholders is lunacy. I think we all recognize that Alberta is the last province to adopt some form of regulation for corporate farms.
I personally don’t see the need to regulate small farms. Now, back to the current governments style of running down hill on legislation. An important piece of law like this must have, stakeholder meetings, research, and time to digest those findings to ensure that the best legislation is accomplished. Does that sound rational? I don’t think that unionization and labor laws are going to help family farms here in Alberta.
To put this in black and white terms the NDP wants to regulate and control family farms. I interviewed a farmer that has been very active in fighting this legislation and they gave me an example. If you are a farmer and want to build a deck on your house you better make sure you have all the proper PPE including hard hat, and safety boots. Also all safety regulations will be followed.
Let’s look at the same scenario in an urban setting, you can go over to your neighbors in the summer with a 24 pack of beer, in your sandals and build the same deck after you drink the beer no questions or problems. I had the pleasure spending the first 13 years of my life on a farm…. without regulation! If the NDP has their way 12 of those years I would have been relegated to the sidelines as I would have been considered child labor say good bye to 4-H clubs.
The family farm is a business, they will have to adhere to some kind of safety regulation, most are fine with that.
Farm life is not a job it is a lifestyle, and not an easy one either. My hope is that the government really analyzes this legislation over time to make a good decision, because Jan. 1, 2016 is coming too quickly.
