letters policy:
To the Editor:
I farm in northern Alberta and recently ran into a quandary with Bill 6 and a three-tonne government bridge.
You see, I have to use the three-tonne bridge to access my farm land. It’s the only access I have to my land and most of my equipment weighs more than three tonnes.
I’ve been complaining to the local county and Alberta Transportation for years to replace the bridge with one with more appropriate weight limits for accessing farmland, but it’s always fell on deaf ears .
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I was told they only have to provide me with access, not any specific weight access.
Then along came Bill 6 and the talk of ensuring safety in farming. I again asked if my bridge would be replaced now, but was still told no. Due to budgetary constraints and the downturn in the economy, it just wasn’t feasible to provide a new bridge, despite Bill 6.
So, to ensure I understood the ramifications of this new Bill 6, I made an inquiry with Occupational Health and Safety. I was told if an unsafe work environment was made over the bridge weight limit, they would issue a stop-work order on me crossing the bridge with anything over three tonnes.
I asked if that would force the government to finally rectify the situation and was told no. In fact, it would only force me simply to not cross the bridge with anything over three tonnes. Essentially, this forces me to abandon all my farmland across that bridge, as I would not be able to get any equipment over there, unless I wanted to build my own multimillion-dollar bridge.
The Occupational Health and Safety official agreed this was an unfair situation getting stuck between two government departments, but couldn’t see any way around it. He had to do his job in OH&S, just as Alberta Transportation has to do theirs.
I was pretty upset today, thinking of the generations of my family that have farmed that land. I debated what to do but I believe bringing it to the attention of the media is the right thing to do because it’s not right.
This government can’t preach safety on one hand and then use budgetary constraint excuses when I ask them to ensure my safety to farm my land.
To The Editor:
Thank you to Myrna Drake (Oct 29/15) for her kind words regarding my 15-year run of published Spiritual Vignettes columns in the Western Producer.
I now post a weekly blog called Country Preacher’s Notes at circle-m.ca/blog.
My Canadian Rural Church Network newsletter can be found at www.circle-m.ca/crcn/.
