Year-end review with Chestermere-Strathmore MLA

By Deirdre Mitchell-MacLean Times Contributor

Leela Aheer, Alberta Minister of Culture and Tourism, said she was pleased with policies the UCP government enacted in 2019, particularly the repeal of Bill 6 and action taken on rural crime.
Over the summer, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Devin Dreeshen consulted with Albertans on priorities for farm labour regulations moving forward under the UCP government. Discussions on protecting farms, insurance, and protecting farm workers took place around the province.
“It came down to working with agriculture and labour, and it was a cross-ministry approach to trying to identify the best solution,” Aheer said. “It really came down to them being able to have the choice when it came to insurance.”
The Farm Freedom and Safety Act will come into effect Jan. 31 and will only affect farms or operations that employ waged, non-family workers. The act exempts farms and ranches from labour relations laws.
“It was also a huge privilege to have (Justice) Minister Doug Schweitzer come out and address the community about rural crime,” Aheer said of the rural crime tour in the fall of 2019.
Information gathered from those town halls led the government to announce 300 new RCMP positions that will be funded by municipalities over the next three years. Schweitzer also announced an intention to broaden the training and scope of peace officers, and fish and wildlife officers, to allow them to assist RCMP calls in less populated but larger geographic areas of the province.
The Chestermere-Strathmore riding only came into effect after the writ was dropped in 2019 so the addition of Strathmore and a portion of Wheatland County is new to Aheer and she’s very optimistic about cooperation in the future.
“The level of engagement and the work that we’re being able to do together at the different levels of government; I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of the advocacy that (local representatives) do on behalf of their constituents,” she said.
Aheer said it was helpful to build the relationships with local officials to allow her to learn about how she can help local municipalities reach their goals.
“When you can bring all levels of government together, what will end up happening is that you can actually change policy (at the provincial level). In this downturn, (local officials) have come to us with so many solutions and it’s great to be able to have that insight,” she noted.
Job creation is not only a provincial priority but also a local priority, and Aheer said tools like the business tax cut will help municipalities attract more investment.
Currently, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry is collecting feedback regarding research and innovation for the agriculture sector. Dreeshen is holding town halls around the province gathering in-person feedback and Aheer said she was looking to hold a town hall in the riding as well.
“It’s a really wonderful opportunity for (people involved in the agriculture sector) to look at what the research priorities are for our farmers,” Aheer said. “You can leverage (research) into attracting more business to the province.”
There is still an agriculture survey online that can be completed until Jan. 31.