Activist group blasts Canada for abandoning farm workers

A Canadian activist group, Justice for Migrant Workers, is calling on the Canadian government to help seasonal workers return to TT.

A group member, Chris Ramsaroop, in a phone interview with Sunday Newsday, said there were almost 280 workers enduring the harsh winter and living conditions.

He said it was disturbing that the Canadian government failed to intervene, given the importance of the migrant workers to Canada's agricultural sector.

“The Canadian government is not doing enough to repatriate the workers to TT. These workers want to go home and back to their families.

“The migrant workers are the backbone of Canada’s agricultural industry. They are essential workers but without the title, resources or benefits like other workers in other industries.”

Justice for Migrant Workers is a volunteer political non-profit activist group based in Toronto, Ontario, Vancouver and British Columbia. The group, which has been in existence for about 20 years, advocates for migrant workers across the Global South.

Ramsaroop, a Canadian with TT heritage, said there were things the Canadian government could do, such as financial intervention for quarantine, but it had refused.

“Rather than having the workers go to UWI for quarantine, there are hotels and other places that workers can be quarantined in TT to speed up this process. And this is where the Canadian government can assist.

“They moved mountains so TT workers could come here, and they should do the same to support the workers to return. There is a high level of frustration and anxiety.”

The seasonal workers usually go to Canada between March and November, with some getting a six-to-eight-week work permit and others up to eight months.

Ramsaroop explained that those who were still there had to apply for extensions, which will now expire at the end of February.

“They now have additional costs to bear. The living arrangements do not cater for this period and some people have had to stay in hotels. Some farms have made accommodation for them, but the bunkhouses are not winterised.”

After TT's borders were closed in mid-March last year because of covid19 concerns, the workers lobbied for exemptions to travel to Canada for work. The Ministry of National Security warned in June that people leaving for the migrant work programme would do so at their own risk.

The minister, Stuart Young, said, “The workers will be asked to sign a letter which will indemnify the State if they contract covid19 while in Canada.

“If they wish to return before this country’s borders are reopened, they would be required to make their own travel arrangements and cover the cost of their 14-day quarantine period.”

Information from both the Canadian and TT authorities was limited, Ramsaroop said, and he accused the TT government of being unfair by blaming the workers for the current situation.

“There is no clear line of communication, and the rhetoric from the TT side was to blame the workers for their current situation. Both countries have benefited from the sacrifices that the farmworkers have undertaken.

“It is not about the individual choice; we have to look at the systemic reasons why people are coming. It is mainly economic factors that have forced people into the system.”

He added that the structure of the migrant programme needed to be reformed because of worker and labour rights infringements.

“They work for CAD$14.39 per hour and are excluded from overtime, holiday pay and the right to join unions. Agricultural workers are treated as second-tier and are excluded from many basic protections.

“The problems we are seeing now are because of the lack of structure of the migrant programme and what is out of control is the working and living conditions they face.”

TT workers are spread across several regions in Canada such as Niagara, Haldimand Norfolk County, Newmarket, Tilsonburg, London and Chatham Kent.

Two workers, Jason from Chaguanas and Russel from Rio Claro, said they have been in Canada since August, working on a tobacco farm. But when bad weather affected harvesting in September, work was shut down, but they have been unable to come home.

They said no help was forthcoming from the liaison officer who managed seasonal workers.

Russel said, “The liaison is not doing her work. She keeps hanging up our calls and we can’t get any information.”

Jason, the married father of two, said although they received CAD$400 per week from the Canadian government, it was barely enough to survive.

“Out of this stipend I have to send home money to support my family. I am the sole breadwinner of my home. My children are still in school and my wife is unemployed. I still support my mother, after my father died.

“We tried to contact our local authorities, but there has been no response or assistance.”

Ramsaroop said luckily for the men, thanks to the employment insurance workers have been paying since the introduction of the seasonal workers programme, they are able to survive.

Newsday tried to get a comment from Canada’s High Commission here about Ramsaroop’s claims, but up till news time the communications unit said it was working with the Ottawa office to issue a response.