Migrants may not be Canadians, but it does not make them less human

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“Canada often lectures the rest of the world about human rights, but the fact that Jamaica is sending a fact-finding team is evidence that Canadian federal authorities are unwilling and unable to ensure equal rights and fair working conditions for migrant workers here. Migrants need the power to protect themselves, and that means full and permanent immigration status for all ” Kit Andres, Migrant Farmworker Organizer at Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

The Canadian government speaks about our great country being equitable and diverse, that all members of our great country are given a fair chance to live their lives with dignity. Yet lurking in the fields of Ontario, and other places in Canada are dark secrets: secrets of degradation and mistreatment.

Labour exploitation and labour trafficking is real and alive in Canada, and although the media does cover what is happening, the government has not made adequate adjustments to ensure the safety of migrant workers. Many of our migrant workers are facing labour exploitation and labour trafficking; illegalities that are known, yet the cries are ignored.

Let’s be clear; in Canada, human trafficking (labour trafficking) is illegal under sections 279.01 – 279.04 of the Criminal Code and section 118 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Let’s explore what is happening to migrant workers in detail.

Labour exploitation occurs when employers treat workers in ways that break the law.

This includes treatment that is against workers’ legal rights, such as:

• Employment Standards rights around wages and working conditions
• Human Rights Code rights to be treated without discrimination or harassment
• Negotiated rights in employment contracts.

Then there is labour trafficking, which is a type of human trafficking. Labour trafficking occurs when workers are coerced or controlled by methods such as deception, fraud, and abuse of power to force them to perform labour or services. The force that labour traffickers use is not always physical: they may use lies and threats about a worker’s immigration status to make the person feel like they have no choice but to keep working in exploitative conditions.

Migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to labour trafficking. They usually have limited language skills, social isolation, fears about immigration status, and little knowledge of Canada’s immigration, employment and human rights laws. This can make migrant workers easy targets for traffickers.

This summer I addressed an issue occurring with the Jamaican farmworker members of Migrant Workers Alliance for Change from Tregunno Fruit Farms and Kai Wiens Family Farms in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. They had sent a letter to Jamaica’s Labour Minister Karl Samuda on August 11^th, 2022, in advance of his visit to their farms. The letter was also sent to media outlets in Jamaica and Canada and published.

On August 14^th, 2022, Gavin Yapp, a Jamaican farmworker who had been coming to Canada for 35 years died in an accident working with a tobacco harvester. Minister Samuda visited the farms on August 15^th, 2022. Upon his return he initially dismissed the letter, insisting that conditions on the farms were up to standard. Under pressure from migrant farm workers speaking up as well as members of Jamaican civil society, Minister Samuda sent a fact-finding team to Canada to investigate.

Under pressure from reports of violations and abuse, and after a series of deaths, a high-ranking Jamaican Fact-Finding team is beginning their evaluation of employers in Canada and will be traveling to farms across the country to review conditions and speak to workers.

“The intimidation, the bosses are constantly on our back, telling us to move faster, especially new workers, they push them, they punish them for not working fast enough, it is not easy. The boss uses abusive words that I can’t use on camera, telling us that even our dead grannies can work faster than you,” said Philip Douglas, a father, and one of the authors of the letter. “The system is broken; they don’t care about us. I have to pray each morning before I go to work. I say, “Lord, Lord, please give me strength, please don’t let me have any encounters with the boss today.”

The Jamaican Fact-Finding team in Canada is comprised of:

• Helene Davis-Whyte (Chair) – President of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions
• Donald (Danny) Roberts – Deputy Chairman of the Industrial Disputes Tribunal
• Wayne Chen – President of the Caribbean Employers Federation
• Raymond Eytle­ – Second Vice President of the Jamaican Employers’ Federation
• Wayne Jones – Deputy Financial Secretary of the Strategic Human Resource Management, Ministry of Finance and Public Service
• Sidia Madden – Chief Internal Auditor of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security
• Kandre Leveridge – Researcher/Community Development Specialist

There needs to be changes, and more opportunities need to be put in place for migrant workers. They contribute so much to Canada and Canadians. More doors need to be opened to migrant workers besides the opportunity of working on a farm. Financially, things must be put in place for migrant workers to obtain financial benefits, especially during these times. Just because migrants may not be Canadians, it does not make them less human.