Dear Editor,
1. The government wants to create a separate bureaucracy that will create city jobs to audit/govern farmers and ranchers’ work on a daily basis. Essentially a job creation program for city workers. A department of paperwork, forms and procedures.
2. This will mean annual visits to your farms and ranches by government to do safety audits – do you have safety equipment, where to you keep it , when do you wear it, does your staff follow all safety procedures?
3. Do you have regular safety meetings, where are your minutes? Have you had any current violations, WCB claims etc.?
4. What is the work history of this farm? Hospital visits? Sick days? (After five or more WCB claims, you will no longer be able to afford the premiums, and you will be out of business.)
5. Do you pay your children, other family members? What about overtime, vacation pay?
6. And the costs of your farming operation will go up, because you have to pay WCB premiums, and government audits and you will also need to put on all your safety gear for every job that you do, so your work time could double. Like the highway workers that we see on the roads. You might also need a secretary to complete all the necessary forms and paperwork that you must provide to the high paid government auditors – who all of a sudden know more about your farm than you do.
7. If, and when, your spouse brings you lunch in the field, they will have to wear a hard hat and safety boots, and probably won’t be allowed to drive the ATV in the field; since it’s not a designated roadway.
8. Oh yes and if you violate any safety procedure, you will be fined, and written up, similar to traffic violations. And how many violations would you be allowed? Etc., etc.
The cost of food will go up, because farmers’ costs will rise significantly.
And what has the government accomplished? High paying jobs for city people, who are going to interfere in your daily lives, as if farming isn’t stressful enough.
There are many beneficial programs that the government could and should be involved in. This isn’t one of them.
Please tell your government what you think about Bill 6.
Sincerely, Ruth Malda
