Westlock County councillors were able to get better acquainted with the province’s new agriculture minister following a face-to-face meeting last week.
Provincial ag minister Oneil Carlier attended the county’s Aug. 25 meeting to discuss a wide range of agricultural issues facing not only Westlock, but Alberta as a whole.
County items on the agenda included weeds on provincial highways and railway tracks, crop disease, and the state of agricultural service board funding.
“And for us the major issue was that they are going to be developing policy, new policy, maybe different policy and we just want to have some input on that,” explained reeve Bud Massey following the meeting.
The reeve said they were happy that the new minister took the time to visit in what was only his third meeting with municipal councils since the spring provincial election.
“We were being proactive and I think that’s our job to be proactive and make sure that things are put on the table,” he said.
“Now it will be up to their caucus to see how many are addressed.”
As for Westlock County’s agricultural emergency declaration made at the end of July, Carlier said the move helps create better awareness of the issue, but little else.
“It’s almost every day that some council is declaring agricultural emergency. It really raises public awareness, but it doesn’t necessarily automatically trigger anything with the provincial or federal governments,” he said.
“We’re well aware of the drought conditions across the province.”
With the province having now declared an agricultural emergency Alberta-wide, Carlier said the move will help farmers receive insurance payouts.
“What that really does is trigger opportunity for AFSC to access their reserve funds for anticipated insurance claims,” he said.
“We’ve already paid out about $114 million in claims and we’re anticipating anywhere from $700 million to as much as $900 million in claims this year.”
Overall, Massey said, the meeting with Carlier was positive.
“It was very positive. I thought he was very open, very frank, and very receptive,” he said. “I thought it was a very good discussion. He talked to us like ordinary people talking to each other.”
While the minister was unable to provide the county with any answers right away Massey said he was pleased that Carlier was engaged.
“I think it’s very difficult to give off the cuff answers and I don’t think it’s fair to expect that,” Massey said. “So the discussion we had, he seemed very receptive and shared good information with us and we’re waiting now to see what the results are. I think he would take it back and talk to staff and his caucus and hopefully some things will come from it.”
