I Won't Sign the Petition to Stop Bill 6 (even though I'd like to)

Those of you who were born and raised in the city might be a wee bit confused about why all the farmers are all up in arms about Bill 6.  I'd like to bring my perspective, and hopefully some clarity, to the issue.

Bill 6 is being brought in, as far as I can tell, in response to the tragic death of three young girls on an Alberta farm earlier this fall.  The provincial government would like to bring OHS standards to farms and ranches, which are currently exempt from those standards.  They would also like to bring WCB insurance, employment standards, and labour relations (unions) into the mix for the agricultural industry.  This all sounds fine and dandy on the surface.  After all, most other industries have these things.  Farming, though, is different.

All of these new standards will cost farmers a lot of money and some will lose valuable workers because of the changes.  Farms will need to become more efficient, which means they will have to get bigger.  The family farm will become a thing of the past.  Is that bad?  I don't know.  I'm generally not a fan of change, so my first reaction is to fight all of this as hard as I can.  I don't want to react, though.  I want to respond.  That means I have to put my thinking cap on, do some reading, get as much information as I can, and really figure out what all of this is going to mean.  Only then can I respond properly to these changes.

So what have I been doing lately?  Well, I'll tell you.  I read as much information as I could.  I read a few media reports, all of which were wildly biased, either for or against the proposed changes.  Then I went straight to the source and began to sift through all the government documents I could lay my hands on.  It's heavy reading, but I managed to get a handle of what the government wants to change.  I also managed to get a handle of the motivations behind the proposed changes.  I don't think our new NDP government is evil or in league with the unions, or anything like that.  I think they genuinely want to keep us safe.  They just don't quite know how to do that, because most of them are ignorant.  They just don't understand how daily farm life works.  They need help from farmers to make these changes as realistic as possible.

There is a petition going around social media to stop Bill 6.  I really want to sign it.  I want this all to go away because I don't like change.  But...what if it is time to change?  What if it is time to say goodbye to the family farm?  What if, in order to make agriculture really and truly efficient, effective, and sustainable, the concept of the family farm needs to die? I hope that isn't the case, but it may well be.  Maybe I need to be ready for change.  Maybe it is my responsibility to make sure that the coming changes happen in the best way possible.  I think maybe that is how I am supposed to respond.

So, I will not be signing the petition to stop Bill 6.  Instead, I have filled out this government survey to help those city-bound official make proper decisions.  I will also be attending a townhall session at Olds College in December to learn more.  I will continue to do my research and look at the issue from all angles until I can do nothing more to make this coming change (and yes, it is coming), as good for everyone as it can possibly be.

Resources: 
General Info:
http://work.alberta.ca/farm-and-ranch.html
FAQs:
http://work.alberta.ca/documents/farm-and-ranch-QAs.pdf
Fact Sheets:
http://work.alberta.ca/documents/Adolescents-and-Young-Persons.pdf
http://work.alberta.ca/documents/minimum-wage.pdf
http://work.alberta.ca/documents/Vacations-and-Vacation-Pay.pdf
http://work.alberta.ca/documents/General-Holidays-and-General-Holiday-Pay.pdf
http://work.alberta.ca/documents/Overtime-Hours-and-Overtime-Pay.pdf
http://work.alberta.ca/documents/Hours-of-Work-Rest-Periods-and-Days-of-Rest.pdf
An example of the reaction I am tempted to give, from another farmer:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/daniel-schneider/a-small-voice/10156239997620282