Mr. MacDonald: Thank you. Eight years ago a government press release announced major amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act that allowed for the publishing of names of employers with the best and worst safety performance in the province. 

Last week the Auditor General flagged a group of 63 employers who repeatedly broke workplace safety laws. To the minister of labour: why has the government failed to follow through on its commitment from eight years ago to publish the names of employers who repeatedly break workplace safety laws?

The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Employment and Immigration.

Mr. Lukaszuk: Well, thank you for that. The minister of labour: I wasn’t sure exactly whom he was talking to.

Mr. Speaker, let me make this abundantly clear yet one more time to this House and for the benefit of anybody who is listening. I have made a very clear undertaking that I will be releasing not only that list of 63, that were randomly identified by the Auditor General, but I will also release a list that has perhaps between 500 and 600 employers, which we consider to be targeted employers, that we are keeping a close eye on. I will release a list of all employers and their statistics very shortly.

Mr. MacDonald: Again, Mr. Speaker, to the same minister. Given that eight years ago Bill 37 was introduced – there were amendments to the legislation – it’s clear the government made a commitment to publish the names of bad employers who were breaking the law. Why has this government failed its commitment from eight years ago?

Mr. Lukaszuk: Mr. Speaker, unlike that member, I will not be dwelling on the past, but I will tell you what I am doing and what I have been doing since I became minister of this particular department.

The moment I met with the Auditor General, which was some two months ago, I made it very clear to my department that we will be releasing the list. However, I want the list to be meaningful so that when you look up the name of your employer, you will be able to know how safe or unsafe your employer is. I simply will not throw a copy of the yellow pages onto your desk. I want the names of employers to have some meaningful information attached. It will be done.

The Speaker: The hon. member.

Mr. MacDonald: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government fails to enforce the law to protect workers. Again to the same minister: has the minister ordered any of the 63 employers who failed to comply with occupational health and safety orders to establish joint worker-management safety committees, and if not, will he do so now?

Mr. Lukaszuk: Mr. Speaker, one thing I can assure you of is that under this Premier’s and my watch we will be making sure that occupational health and safety is a priority. It is obvious that I have made occupational health and safety a priority since that was one of the first instructions I gave to my department. Any employer in this province who chooses not to follow the Occupational Health and Safety Act will be dealt with accordingly.

Alberta Hansard, April 19, 2010

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