Fall
2015
Grains
West
20
Oneil Carlier’s journey toMLA andMinister of Agriculture and Forestry
BY TREVOR BACQUE • PHOTOS COURTESY OF GOVERNMENT OF ALBERTA
Feature
HE SONOF A FARMER IN VAL MARIE, SK,
Oneil Carlier, Alberta’s newest minister of agriculture
and forestry, has led an interesting life. His rural
upbringing included inoculating cattle, helping at harvest
and riding tractors, while his spare time was spent swimming
in irrigation ditches and making occasional visits to the “big
city”—Swift Current.
Throughout his childhood on his family’s mixed farm,
Carlier’s life revolved around his family and friends. The word
“teamwork” became a hallmark of his outlook on life.
“It’s people looking after people,” said Carlier, 53. “I’ve
always taken that through my labour union work. You could say
that not just for labour—if you have an organization, whether it’s
marketing in farming or industry, if you do it collectively, you’ll
have a better chance.”
He means it, too. Carlier spent 13 years working at Public
Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) as a regional representative
for the Prairies, from 2002 to 2015. PSAC is one of the
largest labour unions in the country, with an estimated
170,000 members. While he worked at PSAC, Carlier liaised
with groups such as Revenue Canada, the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency and the federal government.
Prior to working at PSAC, Carlier spent 20 years at
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as a geotechnical
technician, from 1982 to 2002. There, he embraced his “first
love” of irrigation. Memorable work involved the rehabilitation
of the Bassano Dam and quality control at Crawling Valley.
A shift into politics wasn’t necessarily on his radar, but he
has always been in the political mix. “I had been involved in
Saskatchewan with the NDP helping on various campaigns
and advocating for certain issues,” said Carlier. “I moved to
Alberta and was active still. Saskatchewan had a more active
party structure, but I realized Alberta was just as active and
vibrant.”
So, onto the ballot he went: Carlier, Oneil—New Democratic
Party. Carlier’s party was drawing low numbers for provincial
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A
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