A focus on labour and workforce issues is at the forefront of a new role for Foothills MP John Barlow. Barlow stepped into a new position as the shadow minister of employment, workforce development and labour this fall. “It’s going to be certainly a new challenge, something I’m really looking forward to,” said Barlow. He said serving as the deputy critic for the same role for a year following the 2015 election helped prepare him to take on the lead position. He also spent the last year as the associate agriculture critic, which leads nicely into the new assignment, he said. There are a lot of issues to tackle on the new file, he said. “Certainly we will look at the delays with the Trans Mountain (Pipeline) and some of these other bills coming through that will ensure we don’t get any big projects built, and the impact that’s going to have on our labour force is certainly going to be significant,” said Barlow. He will also work closely with labour unions and industry to figure out how to make Canada open for investment and make the workforce stronger, he said. If large projects like the Trans Mountain Pipeline aren’t built, there is less work for Canadians, he said. Another piece of the puzzle is foreign and seasonal workers, which he said is the number one labour issue on the agriculture side. “That’s a nice carryover from my previous role,” said Barlow. To begin with, there will be a lot of catching up to do, he said. The transition from the previous shadow minister, Steven Blaney, will mean getting up to speed on what has already been done and some of the issues on the immediate horizon, he said. Barlow said he’d like to stay involved in agriculture as much as he can. “It’s vitally important to me, and whether it’s PFRA (Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration) issues, trade, I’ll still be involved,” he said. The inability to access labour has been one of the top issues in agriculture, he said. “Whether you’re a cattle feeder, a dairy farmer, or if you’re a fruit processor in Ontario, this is something that is across the country,” said Barlow. “We rely on agriculture as a key component of our economy, but we also have to make sure we have the tools necessary to be successful. One of those very critical tools is having labour.”
