Pubdate: Mon, 22 Aug 2016
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Page: A10
Copyright: 2016 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456

END ABUSE OF MIGRANTS

For most Canadians, the image of exploited labourers toiling in 
fields of drug crops recalls the seamy side of Afghanistan and Southeast Asia.

But it could apply to some medical marijuana farm workers right here 
in Ontario, Canada's biggest employer of migrant labour. They're 
among the thousands who enter Canada under the Temporary Foreign 
Worker and Seasonal Agricultural Worker programs, arriving with 
"closed" work permits that tie them to one employer and force them to 
return to their countries after four years at most, with no 
possibility of permanent-resident status.

About 30 of these workers are now cultivating the licensed medical 
marijuana that has put Canada among the most progressive countries on 
this issue. The market, along with its labour force, is due to 
explode once recreational use of marijuana becomes legal.

But the conditions for the pot producers are anything but 
progressive. "They cannot withhold their labour," writes Chris 
Grisdale, an Osgoode Hall law graduate who has studied migrant 
rights. "Employers do not have to bargain in good faith. Complaints 
of unfair labour practices must be brought to a tribunal, which lacks 
labour-relations expertise." Nor are workers covered by Ontario's 
Labour Relations Act.

The province has laws aimed at protecting low-skilled temporary 
workers. It is illegal for recruiters to charge them fees and for 
employers to claw back recruitment costs from their pay or to 
confiscate their passports and documents. Bosses must provide 
information about workers' employment rights.

However, without proactive enforcement, there are numerous reports of 
violations.

A study by the Canadian Council for Refugees finds that migrant 
workers are routinely charged thousands of dollars in fees by 
recruiters. They are also charged hundreds of dollars for workpermit 
renewals, and employers illegally slap them with the cost of the 
Labour Market Impact Assessments that Ottawa requires before they can 
be hired. But the biggest disadvantage for Ontario's vulnerable 
workers - who often have little command of English and scant 
knowledge of their rights - is a system that puts the onus on them to 
file a complaint.

A federal review of the Temporary Foreign Worker and Seasonal 
Agricultural Worker programs was promised by the Trudeau government, 
and a report due this fall could suggest changes to residency 
requirements for low-skilled workers. But the province should also up 
its game, including fulfilling provisions for a mandatory employer 
and recruiter registry that would allow for workplace spot checks 
without a court order.

It's now 50 years since the migrant farm worker program was launched 
in Canada, and these temporary workers have become a permanent part 
of the labour landscape, producing food for our tables, medical 
relief for our pain, and, soon, recreational marijuana. They deserve 
better than a program that appears to give them rights but is more 
often smoke and mirrors.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom