Bill 6 a summer priority for MLA Schow

By Cole Parkinson
Vauxhall Advance
cparkinson@tabertimes.com

While the dog days of summer are upon us, Cardston-Siksika MLA Joseph Schow is still looking to accomplish a handful of things before the winds of winter approach.

While there are plenty of things he wants to accomplish in his position of the Cardston-Siksika MLA, right now Schow has his eyes focused on something a little closer to home.

“Personally, family. It was a very long first session. Me and my wife, I’ll give credit where credit is due, we just welcomed the third child for our family a couple of days ago. So taking a couple of days to get the ship on even keel and spend some time with my own family,” he said.

From there, Schow will be again fielding concerns from constituents across the riding as the UCP continues to work on several different things.

One of those things Schow is working on is around Bill 6 which deals with farm and ranch workplace safety. Premier Jason Kenney had stated the party’s intentions to repeal the act if elected during the campaign earlier this year, and now they are moving forward with discussions on how they want to see the bill shaped.

“Other than that we are doing a lot of consultations with ministers. We have the Minister of Agriculture (Devin Dreeshen) coming down to Cardston-Siksika in mid this month to discuss the Bill 6 repeal and replace,” said Schow.

According to the UCP, the updated Farm Freedom and Safety Act will eliminate red tape and allow farmers to operate in practical manners while also focusing on safety.
And speaking of red tape reduction, that will continue to be a focus for the UCP moving forward.

Schow says he continues to field comments and concerns on what residents want to see done in that regard. 

“We’re doing a lot of consultations with constituents about red tape reduction. We’re hoping to get a ton of feedback from them because honestly, this ministry is about them. It is about finding ways to make their lives easier and that involves getting back in touch with every day, extremely normal Albertans. Those are the ones who elected me and when you get up into legislature and you are there for a while, it really is just me, my caucus members and members of the NDP. Those are the people you see the most so you don’t get as much chance to interact with your constituents during the session. Now that I am back, I’m excited to get knocking on doors, which I already have been as I’ve put thousands of kilometres on my truck, visiting with people and trying to make sure that the person they elected is out doing the job they hired me to do,” he explained. 

While he continues to speak with residents, he knows his job is far from over. Schow is grateful for the opportunity he has been provided in being the elected MLA for Cardston-Siksika.

“Again, thanks to the constituents for the opportunity to represent them. With this first session over, I’m hoping the message is very clear that what they hired me to do I have been doing. I have been working very hard on their behalf and I’m grateful to be able to do that because we made promises to them and we are going to keep those promises.” 

Get More Vauxhall Advance →