In spite of previously published government documents stating the opposite, Alberta`s agriculture minister says his government's controversial Bill 6 is only meant for paid farm workers and suggested a simple gauge of its applicability would be whether or not a person receives a T4 slip for income-tax purposes.

"It was not intended to apply to children or grandparents coming to help or the neighbour coming to help," Oneil Carlier told The Calgary Eyeopener on Monday morning. "That wasn't the intent of the bill."

Carlier acknowledged that documents put out by the provincial government in mid- to late-November contradict what he's now saying, but said those documents are wrong and he's now trying to set the record straight.

"We understand we were the source of that miscommunication and we're working to clarify," he said.

At issue is whether Workers Compensation Board (WCB) coverage would be mandatory and new Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) rules would apply for casual farm labour, including things like farm kids pitching in with chores or neighbours helping out with calving in the middle of the night.

WCB Alberta previously said coverage would be mandatory for "any unpaid workers, including family members and children," but has since said it misunderstood the government's intent and is updating the information it provides to the public.

OHS contradiction, too

Alberta Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour also put out information last month that contradicts the government's current explanation of Bill 6 when it comes to OHS rules.

"Under the proposed legislation, the OHS Act and regulations would apply when an employer engages the services of a worker, regardless of whether or not the worker is paid (for example, neighbours who volunteer their help) and regardless of the worker's age," the departmental website previously stated, before being altered.

The old version of the website is still available via Google cache and a similar document had also been distributed in hard-copy format to reporters:

Écrit clairement ds le document donné lors de l'annonce <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bill6?src=hash">#Bill6</a> : les bénévoles ne seraient pas exemptés. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/rcab?src=hash">#rcab</a> <a href="https://t.co/jOXgsafZRW">pic.twitter.com/jOXgsafZRW</a> —@EmmaHautecoeur

But Carlier said all that was in error.

"For some reason, and I won't lay blame on any particular people, that was miscommunicated, I think probably on the website, and it was never the intent in the first place," he said.

"The nature of the bill is for paid farm workers, so that very strict employer-employee relationship," the agriculture minister added.

"There are many definitions of that obviously … but I think the basic [criterion] would be if, at the end of the year, that employee is receiving a T4 slip, then this would apply."

Bill 6 still to pass by year's end

While the opposition and many farmers continue to call on the government to kill or delay the legislation, Carlier remained firm on his government's plan to pass Bill 6 before the end of 2015.

He noted the bill itself mainly removes exemptions for farm labour from previous legislation and would bring Alberta in line with the types of laws that exist across most of the country.

The government can then set to work on the "infinite details" that would be part of the specific regulations stemming from the bill, Carlier said.

"We're going to again have the opportunity to again consult with as many people as we can, working on the regulations,

he said. "We're going to be setting up working groups with commodity groups and with individual farmers and ranchers moving forward to make sure we get that right."

"But we really feel that it's important so those exceptions are removed for those employees so they do have the WCB coverage starting Jan. 1."