| Re: "Farm workers need more protection says Swann," News, Aug 31-Sep 06, 2006.
As my sister Lorna and I watched from the gallery of the Legislature Building on Tuesday, August 29th, Mike Cardinal (Minister of Human Resources and Employment) was asked what was being done to protect our farm workers. His response was that he's reviewing workplace safety standards for farm and ranch workers. He also stated that he would monitor and review the issue of health and safety protection of farmers. His not going into details, or explaining this response, brought a feeling of uneasiness. When we left the legislature that day, we were completely unaware that the review had already taken place and that Cardinal ordered it changed to exclude farms and ranches.
How many more farm workers will have to die before we see change? Does Mike Cardinal even care about Alberta's farm workers? Also, when he stated that he was reviewing workplace safety standards for farm and ranch workers (while being fully aware that he had already closed the review) he was lying to Albertans.
All that we want is change. Farm workers are not second-class citizens, they deserve the rights that the rest of us have.
Patricia Williams, Calgary
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