By Josh Hall

Agriculture Financial Services Corporation responds after taking heat from Lacombe mayor

Nov 7, 2021 | 2:23 PM

The Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) is renewing its commitment to Lacombe after coming under fire from the city’s mayor.

rdnewsNOW contacted the AFSC after receiving a column submission last Friday from Mayor Grant Creasey.

In the submission, Creasey criticizes the AFSC for a ‘work away policy’ it adopted last March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The AFSC employs approximately 600 people across Alberta, with about 300 in Lacombe.

Creasey wrote that the policy allows staff to work remotely, from anywhere in Canada.

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“Our council has significant concerns with this decision, as it erodes employment opportunities both provincially and locally,” Creasey penned. “We believe Albertans should be aware of the implications when organizations outsource jobs away from rural communities like Lacombe and Athabasca.”

Creasey also cited a situation he found similar involving Athabasca University, which has adopted a ‘near virtual’ model, according to that town’s mayor, Colleen Powell. Powell submitted a column to the Edmonton Journal on Oct. 19 chastising that decision, saying it would reduce employment in her community by 500 high-quality jobs.

Athabasca University told rdnewsNOW it has no plans to respond to Powell’s opinion piece.

AFSC CEO Darryl Kay tells us that of its 600-person workforce, six are currently working from out of province. Five of those are salaried and one earns hourly wages.

He admits that while the ‘work away policy’ will stay in place regardless of what transpires with the pandemic, that doesn’t mean future turn-over will inevitably result in more out-of-province people taking jobs.

“The priority would be to Lacombe, but it would also be very rare for us to hire out of the province. As a provincial Crown corporation, that’s the right thing for us to do,” says Kay.

“I certainly understand Mayor Creasey’s concerns, and advocating for the city is important, but I want to be really clear that the suggestion we might be turning our central office here into a post office box is simply not true. I can assure you AFSC is going to play an important role in Lacombe, even if we have some different arrangements now with people working from home.”

We contacted Creasey Nov. 3 to see if he stood by how his column was worded and the information he included.

Creasey says he disagrees with any notion the column spelled out doom and gloom, meantime noting his delight in hearing both the low numbers and commitment to Lacombe from Kay.

“I don’t think I was necessarily optimistic or pessimistic, as much as I was realistic in stating the danger of this type of employment direction. Also, it’s given that this entity was founded through legislation which specifically identifies Lacombe as head office, and as such would suggest those individuals work here,” he says, referring to the Agriculture Financial Services Regulation, and adding that the Alberta taxpayer has foot the bill for it.

“I think what I presented was factual, and I wasn’t in any way, shape, or form suggesting that (the Athabasca University situation) was the precise picture here. However, a work away policy, in general, does permit for that type of thing to happen, and I think without shedding light on it now, I fear it could go in that direction.”

The regulation does mention Lacombe in Part 1, Section 3, stating that Alberta is to be the location of the corporation’s head office.

Creasey and Kay met in person to discuss this and other matters on Thursday.