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User:Oceanflynn/sandbox/Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Alberta

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Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Alberta
Ministry overview
JurisdictionProvince of Alberta
Minister responsible
Websitewww.alberta.ca/agriculture-and-forestry.aspx

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Alberta is the department that is responsible for creating and regulating policies and legislation, and managing the agriculture, food and forestry sectors. The department is also responsible for wildfire and forest management as well monitoring and regulating food quality and safety of food, and collaborating with rural communities to ensure their safety and resilience. The department supports "environmentally sustainable resource management practices" in the Canadian province of Alberta. The current Minister in the 30th Alberta Legislature during the United Conservative Party Premiership of Jason Kenney is Devin Dreeshen (born 1987/1988) who was appointed in 2019.[1]

30th Alberta Legislature

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COVID-19 response

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In a December 31, 2020 interview with the Lethbridge Herald, Alberta Federation of Agriculture president Lynn Jacobson, said that there was not much provincial government clarity on public health measures or support for farmers during the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] According to Jacobson, exempting the agricultural sector from masking, sent a mixed message; by the end of December there were many active COVID-19 cases, particularly in the feedlot industry.[2] The High River, Alberta Cargill's facility in Canada, was the site of one of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks in North America[3] with one death and 921 confirmed coronavirus cases among employees—representing about 50 percent of the facility's 2,000 employees.[4] After closing for two weeks, the plant reopened on May 4.[5] By May 6, of the 5,893 confirmed cases in the entire province of Alberta, the province's health services had "linked 1,560 cases to the Cargill facility."[6]

Budget cuts and hundreds of departmental jobs terminated

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In both the 2019 and 2020 provincial budgets, there were "massive cuts in the Alberta Agriculture budget.[2]

On November 22, 2020 Alberta Union of Provincial Employees members received notification by mail of the upcoming loss of 190 positions in the agriculture side, including 135 in the Primary Agriculture division at Alberta's Agriculture Ministry.[7] Programs affected include "plant and bee health surveillance, agriculture service boards, and crop assurance extension (including farm safety)."[7]

Under Minister Dreeshen, a new agency—the Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) agency—was formed as the provincial government exited the department's agricultural research programs.[8]

Key provincial research programs, that had previously been undertaken by Alberta Agriculture, were transferred to the University of Alberta, Olds College, the University of Lethbridge, and Lethbridge College, with some government researchers reassigned to these institutions.[9] In October 2020, the nine-person RDAR gave $3.7 million the University of Alberta $3.7 million for taking on four programs and their lead researchers—cereal agronomy, beef genomics and feed efficiency, reproductive management in beef and dairy cattle, and poultry innovation project.[9][10] By January 2021, has terminated the positions of all soils experts including those who worked on "soil health, quality, fertilizer management, and problem soils", according to a former AG Alberta researcher, Ross McKenzie.[11]

In a January 25, 2021 interview on Real Talk with Real Talk with Ryan Jespersen, McKenzie, by January 23, 2021 another round of terminations took place with an additional 19 more Alberta Agriculture staff "quietly terminated" that week. Minister Dreeshen has terminated over 325 staff and transferred other researchers to "unhappy situations" at four universities and colleges. There have also been layoffs of staff in the agriculture and forestry section of about 600 people. This represents about 50% of the departments. About 90% of the research and extension staff were terminated.[12][13] By January 2021, regulatory and support staff or managers in Edmonton were the only ones remaining in the department.[14][15]

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References

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  1. ^ "Honourable Devin Dreeshen". Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Kalinowski, Tim (December 31, 2020). "Agriculture industry facing uncertainties". The Lethbridge Herald. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  3. ^ "What you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Sunday, May 3". CBC News. May 3, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference calgaryherald_Herring_20200502 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Union rallies as Cargill meat plant reopens after shutdown due to COVID-19". The Canadian Press via BNN Bloomberg. May 4, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  6. ^ "Analysis: In Cargill, Alberta faces a question of morality". The Sprawl. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Blair, Jennifer (November 2, 2020). "The axe comes down at Alberta's Agriculture Ministry". Alberta Farmer Express. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  8. ^ Blair, Jennifer (November 2, 2020). "Government exits the agricultural research game but questions abound". Alberta Farmer Express. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Blair, Jennifer (November 2, 2020). "Universities and colleges to take over key provincial research programs". Alberta Farmer Express. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  10. ^ McKenzie, Ross (October 23, 2020). "AB Ag minister gave the new Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) $37m. This wk the 9 person RDAR board gave $3.7m to the UofA Faculty of Agric&Evn. The faculty dean is a board member. Now farmers are asking "is this a conflict of interest & will the research be farmer led?"" (Text). Twitter. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  11. ^ Ross McKenzie (December 5, 2020). "Happy World Soils Day! Soil is Alberta's most important resource. Healthy soil ensures success of our Ag & Forestry industries. Sadly- AB Ag & Forestry has terminated all soils experts. No one is left to work on soil health, quality, fertilizer management, problem soils, etc". Twitter. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  12. ^ Ryan Jesperson (Host), Tim Caulfield, Dr. Ross McKenzie, Rachel Notley, Amarjeet Sohi, Stephen Brogarth (Guests). Real Talk with Ryan Jespersen. Event occurs at 2:21:50. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  13. ^ McKenzie, Ross (January 23, 2021). "Another 19 Alberta Ag staff were quietly terminated this week" (text). Twitter. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  14. ^ McKenzie, Ross (October 30, 2020). "Glad to see new AB Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) is farmer-led! Except RDAR chair & vice chair aren't farmers. Four of 9 board members aren't farmers! RDAR board has already given $18m to institutions. Was this farmer led & directed - or AB Ag minister directed?" (text). Twitter. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  15. ^ McKenzie, Ross (October 29, 2020). "I would like to add my congratulations on your retirement - @NormFlore ! You have had an extraordinary career. I particularly enjoyed working on research projects with you when you were with Westco. Enjoy your retirement!" (Tweet). Twitter. Retrieved January 25, 2021.

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[[Category:Alberta government departments and agencies|Agriculture and Forestry of Alberta [[Category:... ministries|Alberta [[Category:... in Alberta

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