By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

CONCERNS HEARD

Broncos family member content with province’s direction on trucker safety legislation

Oct 19, 2019 | 9:41 AM

The sister of late Humboldt Broncos head coach Darcy Haugan says she’d be glad if the tragedy weren’t used as a political football.

Deborah Carpenter, who lives in Red Deer, spoke with rdnewsNOW after the Alberta Legislature unanimously voted to reverse a decision of Transportation Minister Ric McIver that had exempted inexperienced truck and bus drivers from mandatory entry-level training (MELT). The motion to do so came from NDP MLA Marie Renaud.

Before that vote was held, Carpenter spent 15 minutes on the phone with McIver, who informed her of the government’s intentions to take another look at the legislation.

“If anyone is ever accused of not caring about the boys on that bus, first of all, you’d have to be the absolute coldest psychopath on the planet. So the ideas that I see in social media, people making comments that the government doesn’t care, those just whip up emotions that make people angry, frustrated and scared,” she says.

“The government knows that there is a problem when it comes to employment practices and how and why companies, in this particular case, they put that man behind the wheel, and what responsibility do those companies have when an accident happens.”

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Also earlier in the day, opposition leader Rachel Notley met at the Legislature with a handful of Broncos families who later sat in on question period and debate.

The NDP stated Wednesday evening that they would hold the government to account and ensure that they actually do, “back off their dangerous plan to lower the safety standards.”

Carpenter says she isn’t impressed with the NDP’s tactics.

“I am very disappointed in any political party that will take people who they know are absolutely devastated by something to use them as pawns in the Legislature to advance their agenda and paint another political party as uncaring,” she states.

“I find that beyond the pail, and I almost feel sorry for anyone who showed up at the Legislature, then heard what Minister McIver said. It was enough for them to go, ‘I still need to be concerned, but I don’t need to be outraged.’ That’s a lot of emotional energy to spend and it’s not helpful for anyone.”

She further describes the call McIver took time for as highly respectful, and says he was able to answer her questions. Carpenter made it clear to him that she also wants to see harsher penalties for companies which own trucks involved in incidents like the one in Saskatchewan, and that immigrants need to stop being taken advantage of.

“I do appreciate that there are a lot of factors going into this and that any government in power has to try to manage … but untrained drivers won’t be allowed on the road. That never was the case,” Carpenter says.

“There’s more work to be done, and Minister McIver knows that. I am confident that they can continue to move forward.”

McIver stated during debate, “I am not sure what we are going to do. And I am not making a promise or an announcement right now, but I am telling the house what I told them: we are going to look at it. I know they want a hard promise today. I’m sorry, I can’t give them that … but they’ve convinced me to take a second look.”