Farm Fatalies Go Unmentioned
The Alberta government has stopped reporting farm fatalities and labour groups are asking why.
"This year when we went to find out how many people had died, because we try to do that every year, and we found that the government of Alberta wouldn't report farm fatalities anymore," says Nancy Furlong with the Alberta Federation of Labour. "We don't even get to know publicly how many of them have lost their lives."
The Alberta Federation of Labour says the intent is to hide the lack of workplace protection for farms workers in the province.
"Something needs to happen because farm workers are not covered by occupational health and safety legislation, they are not covered by mandatory workers compensation coverage, they are not entitled to join unions," says Furlong. "So they are treated very badly in terms of their protection as workers."
The federation says Alberta is the only province where farm workers aren't covered by occupational health and safety rules.
Furlong says they have never received a satisfying explanation for why farm workers are not covered.
She says they understand it's hard to differentiate between child labour and family farms, but says that is no excuse.
"So there is a challenge there, but no one is rising to that challenge," Furlong says. "From our perspective it's better to say they are all covered and then make exceptions, rather than say they are all not covered."
DrumhellorOnLine, Tues Aug 21 2012
Byline: Sarah Copeland
Renewed calls for farm safety
Opposition parties and labour groups are calling on the government to improve farm workers safety.
The Alberta NDP and the Alberta Federation of Labour want to know why the government stopped reporting farm fatalities.
"Alberta is far behind the rest of Canada in regards to farm workers safety," says NDP agriculture critic David Eggen. "We're finding it particular shocking because this year the provincial government has chosen to stop gathering information on statistics on farm workers in Alberta."
Eggen says the government should extend occupational health and safety regulations to farmer workers. During her spring election campaign, Premier Redford promised to extend health and safety regulations to farmer workers.
Liberal MLA David Swann says there are an average of 30 farm deaths a year over the last 20 years.
i880 News, Tues Aug 21 2012
Alberta no longer reports farm fatalities
Union says workers unprotected
The Alberta Federation of Labour is criticizing the provincial government for no longer reporting farm fatalities.
The federation says the move is an example of how "agricultural workers are being erased in Alberta."
"This decision to stop reporting the number and nature of farm deaths helps to hide the real problem Alberta's deplorable lack of workplace protection for farms workers in the province," spokeswoman Nancy Furlong said in a release Monday.
"It's particularly insulting to the families of those killed on the job to have to call on the government to continue to simply report these incidents."
The federation says the province is the only one in Canada where farm workers aren't covered by occupational health and safety laws. It says they are also excluded from legislation on hours of work and overtime, statutory holidays and vacation pay.
A judicial inquiry in 2008 into the death of worker Kevin Chandler in a farm accident near High River, Alta., recommended the inclusion of farm labourers in laws ensuring workplace protections.
"It is the government's duty to protect workers, but also to report their deaths and injuries. Death and injury prevention requires knowledge of the frequency and nature of the incidents," said Furlong.
The federation says the province announced its plans on a government website and offered no meaningful explanation for the change.
Alberta Agriculture said Monday it is reviewing how it publishes information about farmworker deaths and injuries with an eye to protecting the privacy of victims and their families.
Stuart Elson, a ministry spokesman, said updated statistics could be available later this week.
On the larger question of when or if the government will introduce workplace safety legislation to protect farms workers, Elson said at least two ministries are studying the issue.
"Education and awareness are best suited to the practical realities of farming," he said.
"We are continuing to work with the Ministry of Human Services to improve farm safety. That is all I can really say at this point."
The NDP's agriculture critic used a stop in Lethbridge, Alta., to blast the government for what he called inaction on workplace safety for farm workers.
David Eggen said it's disturbing that the lives of Alberta labourers on the land appear to mean so little to the government.
"It's very dangerous work and farm workers are not being protected with the basic rights that other workers have here in Alberta," Eggen said.
"They're far behind the rest of Canadian farm workers and now suddenly (Premier Alison) Redford makes the page go dark on the statistics that we can use to track farm workers here in the province."
Liberal critic David Swann said there are an average of 30 farm deaths a year over the last 20 years.
"Despite the number of injuries and deaths among farm workers ... the government has undertaken no action to require improved health and safety conditions surrounding paid agriculture employees," he said in a release.
Hamilton Spectator, Mon, Aug 21 2012
The Canadian Press
Farm Workers being 'erased' in Alberta
Alberta's decision to withhold information on farm fatalities is an attempt to move the issue off the public radar, according to the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), an umbrella union organization representing more than 15,000 workers.
The change was announced "unceremoniously" on a government website, the AFL said.
"The decision to cease reporting fatalities is a painful example of how agricultural workers are being erased in Alberta," said AFL secretary treasurer Nancy Furlong. "It's particularly insulting to the families of those killed on the job to have to call on the government to continue to simply report these incidents."
Alberta is the only province in Canada where farm workers are excluded from occupational health and safety laws, according to the AFL. These workers are also exempt from legislation governing hours of work and overtime, statutory holidays, vacation pay, the right to refuse unsafe work and compensation if they are injured on the job, the organization said.
The AFL finds the change especially troubling in light of a 2008 judicial inquiry into the death of Kevin Chandler, a farm worker killed near High River, Alta., that recommended the inclusion of farm labourers in workplace protection laws.
"It is the government's duty to protect workers, but also to report their deaths and injuries," said Furlong, noting the latest data available from the agency now reporting these statistics, the Canadian Agriculture Injury Reporting, is from 2005.
"Death and injury prevention requires knowledge of the frequency and nature of the incidents," Furlong said.
The province's NDP also criticized the government, calling for legislative changes that would extend health and safety regulations to Alberta's farm workers.
"Frankly, it's disturbing that the lives and livelihoods of Alberta's farm workers mean so little to this government," says NDP agriculture critic David Eggen.
There have been 160 farm-related deaths between 2001 and 2011, the NDP said in a press release.
"This is challenging, dangerous work, and I'm calling on the government today to give farm workers the same rights and protections given to almost all other working Albertans," Eggen said.
The Alberta Liberal Party also spoke out against the issue.
"In Alberta, paid farm workers work without the basic rights and benefits of all other paid employees," said David Swann, the party's agriculture critic. "We must recognize that Albertans are being nourished at the expense of farm workers' health, safety and labour fairness."
There has been an average of 30 farm deaths a year over the last 20 years, Swann said.
Cnd HR Reporter, Thomson Reuters, Tues Aug 21 2012
Alberta ignoring farm fatalities: union
EDMONTON – The Alberta Federation of Labour is criticizing the provincial government for no longer reporting farm fatalities.
The federation says the move is an example of how "agricultural workers are being erased in Alberta."
"This decision to stop reporting the number and nature of farm deaths helps to hide the real problem – Alberta's deplorable lack of workplace protection for farms workers in the province," spokeswoman Nancy Furlong said in a release Monday.
"It's particularly insulting to the families of those killed on the job to have to call on the government to continue to simply report these incidents."
The federation says the province is the only one in Canada where farm workers aren't covered by occupational health and safety laws. It says they are also excluded from legislation on hours of work and overtime, statutory holidays and vacation pay.
A judicial inquiry in 2008 into the death of worker Kevin Chandler in a farm accident near High River, Alta., recommended the inclusion of farm labourers in laws ensuring workplace protections.
"It is the government's duty to protect workers, but also to report their deaths and injuries. Death and injury prevention requires knowledge of the frequency and nature of the incidents," said Furlong.
The federation says the province announced its plans on a government website and offered no meaningful explanation for the change.
Alberta Agriculture said Monday it is reviewing how it publishes information about farm worker deaths and injuries with an eye to protecting the privacy of victims and their families.
Stuart Elson, a ministry spokesman, said updated statistics could be available later this week.
On the larger question of when or if the government will introduce workplace safety legislation to protect farms workers, Elson said at least two ministries are studying the issue.
"Education and awareness are best suited to the practical realities of farming," he said.
"We are continuing to work with the Ministry of Human Services to improve farm safety. That is all I can really say at this point."
The NDP's agriculture critic used a stop in Lethbridge, Alta., to blast the government for what he called inaction on workplace safety for farm workers.
David Eggen said it's disturbing that the lives of Alberta labourers on the land appear to mean so little to the government.
"It's very dangerous work and farm workers are not being protected with the basic rights that other workers have here in Alberta," Eggen said.
"They're far behind the rest of Canadian farm workers and now suddenly (Premier Alison) Redford makes the page go dark on the statistics that we can use to track farm workers here in the province."
Liberal critic David Swann said there are an average of 30 farm deaths a year over the last 20 years.
"Despite the number of injuries and deaths amongst farm workers ... the government has undertaken no action to require improved health and safety conditions surrounding paid agriculture employees," he said in a release.
Edmonton Journal, Monday Aug 20 2012
Alberta no longer reports farm fatalities; union says workers unprotected
DMONTON - The Alberta Federation of Labour is chiding the provincial government for no longer reporting farm fatalities.
The union says the move is an example of how — quote — "agricultural workers are being erased in Alberta."
The union says the province is the only one where farm workers aren't covered by occupational health and safety laws.
It says they are also excluded from legislation on hours of work and overtime, statutory holidays and vacation pay.
A judicial inquiry in 2008 recommended the inclusion of farm workers in laws ensuring workplace protections.
The union says the province announced its plans on a government website and offered no meaningful explanation for the change.
Global Edmonton, Mon Aug 20 2012
The Canadian Press
Alberta Farm Fatalities falling off the Radar
Government drops public reporting of farm deaths
EDMONTON – The Alberta government’s decision to withhold information on farm fatalities is an attempt to move the issue to the back burner and off the public radar, says the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), the largest labour organization in Alberta. The AFL represents over 150,000 Alberta workers.
“Farm workers are already left unprotected under health and safety regulations,” says Nancy Furlong, Secretary Treasurer of the Alberta Federation of Labour.
"The decision to cease reporting fatalities is a painful example of how agricultural workers are being erased in Alberta,” says Furlong, The news the province would stop reporting information on farm worker deaths and injuries was delivered unceremoniously through a government website. The province offered no meaningful explanation for the change.
Alberta remains the only province where farm workers are excluded from occupational health and safety laws, as well as legislation governing hours of work and overtime, statutory holidays, vacation pay, the right to refuse unsafe work, being informed of work-related dangers and compensation if they are injured on the job.
The Government of Alberta also continues to ignore the advice of one of its own judges. A judicial inquiry into the death of farm worker Kevin Chandler found Alberta’s discriminatory practice against farm workers unjustifiable. Still, the province has done nothing.
“It is the government’s duty to protect workers, but also to report their deaths and injuries. Death and injury prevention requires knowledge of the frequency and nature of the incidents,” says Furlong, noting that the latest data available on the agency now reporting these statistics, the Canadian Agriculture Injury Reporting, is from 2005.
“The Alberta Federation of Labour declared August 20th as Farm Workers Day at our 2005 Convention, and has been calling on the government to allow farm workers the same protections as most Alberta workers enjoy,” says Furlong. “It’s particularly insulting to the families of those killed on the job to have to call on the government to continue to simply report these incidents.”
“This decision to stop reporting the number and nature of farm deaths helps to hide the real problem – Alberta’s deplorable lack of workplace protection for farms workers in the province,” concludes Furlong.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Nancy Furlong, Secretary Treasurer 780-720-8945 (cell)
Lethbridge media contact:
Shannon Phillips, Director of Policy Analysis 403-330-7898
Alberta Federation of Labour letter compels Gateway Review Panel to consider Michigan oil spill documents
Joint Review Panel acts in response to AFL letter filed August 9
Edmonton – The Alberta Federation of Labour is applauding the Joint Review Panel’s (JRP) decision to compel Enbridge to put the review of the company’s response to the Michigan oil spill before the Northern Gateway hearings.
The JRP asked Enbridge to provide the documents in response to a request made by the Alberta Federation of Labour.
On August 9, 2012 the AFL filed a letter of request for the documents in support of a July 30, 2012 notice of motion by the Haisla Nation. The letter reads in part:
“The AFL submits that there can be no credible decision regarding the Canadian public interest in this pipeline without a thoughtful consideration by the JRP of the overall safety record of Enbridge. The Kalamazoo spill became an environmental disaster and it is critical that the JRP understand why that happened so that it can properly evaluate the effectiveness of the steps taken by Enbridge, if any, to ensure that their pipeline operation and in particular the operation of Northern Gateway will be safe going forward.”
“The AFL submits that it is important that this proceeding occur in a fair manner that accords natural justice to all participants, or there is a substantial risk that it will be open to successful judicial review. We ask that the JRP make the necessary orders to protect the integrity of these proceedings and to ensure that the information is provided without further delay.”
The AFL remains concerned that background analysis and documentation may be still missing from the documents requested by the JRP. In particular, Enbridge’s own internal analysis of the spill, written testimony of individual Enbridge employees, and background technical studies remain absent from the public record.
The Alberta Federation of Labour is participating in the Joint Review Panel of the Northern Gateway Pipeline project as a full intervener on behalf of 150,000 working Albertans, including 25,000 in the energy and energy-related construction sectors.
The Federation opposes the project on the grounds that a pipeline shipping raw bitumen to Asia exports tens of thousands of value-added jobs in upgraders, refineries, petrochemicals, and other value-added products. According to the AFL’s analysis, the Northern Gateway pipeline will result in a dramatic and permanent reduction in value-added jobs in Alberta and Canada.
The AFL has prepared an extensive amount of evidence for the Panel’s review and will be appearing at the hearings in Edmonton in September. In September and October, Alberta’s largest labour organization will participate in cross-examination on the economic case for the pipeline and its socio-economic effects.
A full directory of the Alberta Federation of Labour’s documents filed with the Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel can be found here.
The August 9th letter sent by the Alberta Federation of Labour requesting that the National Transportation Safety Board reports on the Kalamazoo oil spill be entered as evidence before the JRP is here.
The JRP’s request to Enbridge to file the documents, in response to the AFL request, can be found here.
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For further information contact:
Shannon Phillips, Director, Policy Analysis at 403.330.9878
Alberta Federation of Labour
West Coast refinery proposal puts pipeline debate in new light
OTTAWA – Political, business and union leaders reacted with caution and skepticism Friday to a B.C. newspaper tycoon’s proposal to build a $13-billion refinery near Kitimat to process bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands.
Calgary-based Enbridge Inc., which is proposing the 550,000-barrel-a-day pipeline to ship diluted bitumen to Kitimat for export to Asian refineries, refused to comment on David Black’s proposal to have some or all of that product processed in Canada.
Federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said Ottawa welcomes any project that boosts Canadian exports and jobs, but said he wouldn’t pass judgment on the idea.
“The reason refineries haven’t been built in Canada since the 1980s is because there hasn’t been an economic case for them, and the private sector just hasn’t seen the advantage,” Oliver said.
He said he assumes Black is serious in his proposal to have a refinery approved by regulators and operational by 2020.
The proposal was pitched Friday by Black as a way to make Enbridge Inc.’s controversial Northern Gateway pipeline proposal more palatable with the public, which has deep concerns about the environmental risks coupled with the lack of financial benefits for B.C.
Black told a news conference that the refinery’s finished products, such as diesel, gasoline and kerosene, would evaporate in a coastal or offshore spill. Diluted bitumen crude, however, would sink and be far tougher to clean up.
But the federal NDP and union leaders, who have long opposed oilsands pipelines, partly because they believe bitumen should be upgraded and processed in Canada, were skeptical.
“I don’t think it changes anything in terms of public opinion in B.C. against the Northern Gateway project,” said Peter Julian, a B.C. MP and federal NDP natural resources critic.
“The pipeline still threatens thousands of jobs in the fisheries and in tourism.”
Julian also questioned Black’s business case, noting that Enbridge’s Chinese partners are funding the $6-billion project in order to get raw bitumen for their own refineries.
Peter Boag, president of the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute, called the proposal “interesting” but speculated that the $13-billion price tag could be low.
“Clearly there are some significant economic and regulatory hurdles that would have to be overcome before we would see that proposal come to fruition.”
Michael Dunn, oil and gas analyst with FirstEnergy Capital Corp. in Calgary, also expressed skepticism.
“If they don’t want a pipeline to Kitimat, I’d be surprised if they’d want a refinery,” he said.
Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said his organization has always favoured keeping refining jobs in Canada, “but we are not convinced this is a credible proposal.”
Like Julian, McGowan questions why Black’s refinery could assume it has access to any of the pipeline’s production.
“How does he think he’s going to convince shippers to sell oil to him when the reality is that Chinese companies are buying up the oilsands in order to feed their own refineries? The whole point of the pipeline is to connect Chinese-controlled oilsands projects in Alberta with refineries in China. How does Black think he’s going to stop the Chinese from locking up all the oil shipped down the pipeline for themselves?”
Dave Coles, national president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union that represents 35,000 workers in the oil and gas, refining, petrochemical and pipeline sectors, said it was “refreshing” to hear a business leader talk about keeping processing jobs in Canada.
“This type of discussion is what needs to take place about upgrading and refining in Canada, so hats off for anybody who wants to start that debate.”
Greg Stringham, vice-president with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said the West Coast is an important export point for Alberta crude, so any projects that could lead to increased access should be carefully considered.
Asked if the proposal might change the debate in B.C. around getting a fair share of economic benefits from the Gateway pipeline, Stringham said it’s still too early to tell.
Jennifer Grant, oilsands director for the environmental research group Pembina Institute, said she was skeptical a new refinery would substantially reduce the environmental risks of the pipeline project.
“This merits more exploration but it does nothing to address pipeline risk, risk to salmon habitat, First Nations’ concerns and so on. Those will all continue to be in the spotlight.”
Edmonton Journal Fri Aug 17 2012
Byline: Peter O'Neil
With files from Dan Healing, Calgary Herald, and Keith Gerein, Edmonton Journal
Ethical Oil charity complaint sparks Alberta corporate complaint
As is well known, the "Ethical Oil Institute," the Edmonton-based organization founded by Sun News Network commentator Ezra Levant to support petroleum extraction companies in Alberta, has complained to the Canada Revenue Agency demanding the charitable status of Tides Canada "be reviewed for violating Canada's charities law."
Last week, Ethical Oil accused the Vancouver-based environmental and social issues charity of "'laundering' money from contributors to groups engaged in 'non-charitable' political activities," as the complaint was summarized by the Edmonton Journal.
Ethical Oil also set up an automated online form to enable those who share Levant's and his organization's views to send emails to National Revenue Minister Gail Shea "to report any radical or environmental lobby group you've seen masquerading as a charity so that their taxpayers (sic) subsidy comes to an end!"
Now an Edmonton researcher has filed a complaint with Service Alberta Minister Manmeet Bhullar arguing that by taking this action Ethical Oil is violating its Memorandum of Association with the with the Alberta government.
"Corporate entities such as Ethical Oil are bound by the Companies Act to follow the objects set in their Memorandum of Association," researcher Tony Clark wrote Bhullar last week. "Ethical Oil has mounted a protracted campaign against what it views as violations of the Canada Revenue Agency's rules by certain environmentally oriented charities. I believe this campaign is against the letter, if not the spirit, of the corporation's Memorandum of Association which regulates its external activities."
Citing statements made by Ethical Oil on its website, before a House of Commons committee, in the mainstream media, in a 143-page letter of complaint to the CRA and on a Sun News Network television program hosted by Levant, Clark argues there is nothing in Ethical Oil's Memorandum of Association "that allows this corporation to be a referee on charities' activities."
On his Sun News Network program, Levant -- who is president, treasurer and a director of Ethical Oil and holds 50 per cent of the corporate entity's shares -- interviewed Ethical Oil Executive Director Jamie Ellerton about the campaign against Tides Canada's charitable status. On this episode of The Source with Ezra Levant, Levant set aside his trademark aggressive interview style and was positively warm.
Regardless, Clark's complaint goes on, "The objects of the corporation include, among other things, 'issues and considerations of environmental responsibility, peace, treatment of workers, democratic rights, and human rights.' There is no mention whatsoever in Ethical Oil's foundational documents of this corporation being used as an overseer of the Canada Revenue Agency's rules on charities.
"I do note, however, that Ethic Oil's Memorandum of Association, article 5, specifically states (emphasis added), '[t]he income and property of the Company, however derived and received, shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objects of the Company...'," Clark writes.
"The key word in the sentence above, Hon. Minister, is 'solely.' Given the scale and scope of Ethical Oil's campaign against a few environmentalist charities, I think it is undeniable that Ethical Oil is using its resources in contravention of its objects as set out in its Memorandum of Association," he argues.
"I urge you to use your powers as the minister responsible for the Companies Act to investigate Ethical Oil's activities and penalize the corporation to the fullest extent of the law if you find it has violated the Act," Clark concludes.
Meanwhile, it is hard to predict the outcome of Ethical Oil's complaints against Tides Canada and other environmental charities.
On one hand, Prime Minister Stephen Harper would clearly like to suppress the activities of charitable organizations that do not march in lockstep with his Conservative Party's environmental policies. On the other, many other charitable organizations with which Harper is both broadly in agreement and whose work he values are clearly in violation of the CRA's regulations about political activities.
So on the theory the rule of law still prevails in Canada, it is hard to see how what is good for the charitable goose mustn't also be good for the charitable gander, an outcome with which the prime minister may be uncomfortable.
One of the most glaring examples, as is well known, is the Vancouver-based market-fundamentalist propaganda organization known as the Fraser Institute, which continues to be permitted to operate as a charity despite blatantly and consistently ignoring the CRA's limits on political activities.
In January 2012, Clark wrote Shea arguing that the Fraser Institute engages in excessive political activities and requesting that the CRA investigate its activities and revoke its charitable status.
Shea responded with a letter that ran to two pages, but contained remarkably little information. She did note that "the confidentiality provisions of the Income Tax Act prevent me from discussing the tax affairs of any particular organization without written consent from an authorized representative of that organization."
Shea did observe in her letter to Clark that "a charity's political activities must be reported on its annual form T3010-1, Registered Charity Information Return."
As Clark noted in an Alberta Federation of Labour submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance and Tax Incentives for Charitable Organizations on Jan. 17, 2012, each year between 2000 and 2010 the Fraser Institute responded "no" to the CRA's question "Did the charity carry on any political activities during the fiscal period?"
As the AFL submission observed: "Any rookie observer of Canadian politics knows this is nonsense: the Fraser Institute is actively involved in the Canadian political landscape. Any reporting or suggestion otherwise is a sham."
Shea also told Clark that "a charity whose object includes the advancement of education must take care not to disregard the boundary between education and propaganda. To be considered charitable, an educational activity must be reasonably objective and based on a well-reasoned position, that is, a position based on factual information analyzed methodically, objectively, fully, and fairly. In addition, a well-reasoned position should present serious arguments and relevant facts to the contrary."
The flawed approach to "research" taken by the Fraser Institute is well known and aptly deconstructed by Saskatoon health policy consultant Stephen Lewis, who wrote in 2011 that the organization's research in his field was "fatally flawed," based on a methodology that is "essentially absurd," uses respondents' hunches and opinions rather than real data, relies on unrepresentative samples of self-interested respondents and produces only "sortafacts" that support its market-fundamentalist ideological position.
Or, as Nova Scotia Finance Minister Graham Steele put it more bluntly: "The Fraser Institute produces junk. It is not a serious institution. It is a political organization."
Since Canada remains a country of laws, surely we can assume that Levant's Ethical Oil Institute will receive a similar response from Shea.
Rabble.ca, Tues Aug 14 2012
Byline: David Climenhaga