The other day I came across an article on the CBC regarding labour laws and children working in a poultry processing farm in Saskatchewan titled, Saskatchewan farmers cry foul over child labour investigation.
Occupational Health and Safety Division (OHS) decided to investigate the business after receiving complaints surrounding minors working. The children in the family were working in the processing side of producing chickens.
For the family, the processing plant is simply part of the farm. Saskatchewan's history points to family farms and although larger operations are getting away from this idea, the sustainable practices this family conducts is still small enough to be considered a family farm.
The investigation is to determine if the children are employees or not.
Now, I understand the intricacies of having children work as kids should be kids; but at the same time, the family farm is what this province is rooted in.
I grew up on a family farm and although we didn't raise chickens, we had to work. I attribute my work ethic to this childhood. It didn't seem like hard work, when young my sister and I weeded the garden, picked rocks, helped cook, helped with moisture tests for grain, cleaned, and more. By the time we could drive, my sister became a truck driver mostly and when I got my licence later, it was into the tractor.
I just felt like I was helping out. In fact I thoroughly enjoyed most roles though picking rocks by hand and driving the tractor were my two favourites.
Under the article I read numerous responses from other readers, the comments were nearly all the same. Farming families are simply looking to instill work ethic and responsibility, which I feel is the product of kids helping out on the farm.
Through my years growing up, we were always given time to play, we jumped on the trampoline, played video games, went to the lake, and enjoyed making snow forts. When we were teenagers, my sister and my interests were focused on volleyball and we spent time snowmobiling or still being at the lake.
Helping out on the farm was just part of our lives and I don't feel as though working cheated me out of a childhood, although that seemed to be the comment from a few upset by the youth in this article having to work. The thing is, their screen names, like OntarioGuy14, implies to me that it is possible the comments were coming from city folk, although Ontario is large and many live in the country, it makes me wonder if those outraged by youth working really understand the idea of a family farm.
Some stated they should hire labour, for some farmers this may be a possibility, but for many family farms they are too small for this to actually be viable.
At the same time, even if the family farm is large enough to make hiring a farmhand possible, involving the youth in the farm is important as it may one day be passed on to them if they enjoy the work. Not only that but working on a farm introduces youth to a variety of work possibilities from math-based interests to trades interests and more.
At the end of the online article, the CBC included a poll, which showed 23,673 votes as of 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 10. Of these votes, 6.46 percent said rules on family farms should be limited, while 9.42 percent stated the rules are fine but are in need of better enforcement. The clear majority, however, of 84.12 percent agreed that "family farms are a Saskatchewan tradition and parents should be able to decide if their children work."
So, will the government rule on the side of the seeming majority or will they be focused on changing labour laws regarding family farms which this province, and the majority of Canada, was built on?
