Happy New Year to all constituents in Calgary Shaw! I hope you had a peaceful and relaxing holiday spent in the company of family and friends. The beginning of a new year gives us a chance to look ahead and think about how to make the upcoming year even better than the last. I look forward to continuing my work as your MLA into 2018. If you have any events you would like me to attend in the upcoming year please feel free to contact my office and my staff would be happy to put it in my schedule.
I want to let you know about legislation that was recently introduced in the Legislature. Bill 30: An Act to Protect the Health and Well-being of Working Albertans was introduced to modernize Alberta’s labour laws and to better align Alberta’s standards with the rest of Canada. We all know that workplace health and safety affects the lives of Alberta workers. They work at heights over 15 storeys. They work with metals that are over 1,500 ºC. They work with complex machinery capable of causing severe injury. They work on their feet for more than 10 hours a day, serving coffee, stocking shelves, and greeting customers. All Albertans should be able to come home healthy and safe at the end of the workday, and if they don’t, they should have access to the medical and financial supports they need to return to work.
This new bill would do many things including: extend presumptive coverage for psychological injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to all occupations, establish a Code of Rights and Conduct that outlines the rights of workers with WCB, and ensure that employers that employ 20 or more workers must have a written health and safety program. If you have any questions about this, please contact my office at [email protected] and my staff would be happy to help you.
