Putting the lens on migrant workers
Off the west coast of Scotland is the Outer Hebrides (also known as the Western Isles), a chain of islands that stretch for 160 kilometres.
On the Hebrides’ Isle of Lewis is the port of Stornoway, some 48 kilometres off the northwest corner of the country’s mainland. Vikings were the first to settle Stornoway, naming it Steering Bay.
The protective nature of its location made Stornoway a sheltered port for the islands.
It’s from this calm harbour in April 1923, that Murdo Murray, 23, and his cousin Donald MacDonald, 26, said goodbye to family and friends and boarded the SS Metagama to voyage to Canada — a new world awaited them.
The ship was one of three Canadian Pacific liners that came and went from the port during 1923 and 1924. The young men declared on their passenger arrival form their intent was to settle in Canada.
After spending some time in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), the cousins relocated to Humberstone in 1924. They were both hired in November by the Northern Construction Co. to work on building of the Welland Ship Canal.
A few months later, Murray became the first canal fatality of 1925. He died Jan. 23 after falling 67 feet into a sump hole at Section 8, near Humberstone.
Sadly for the family and the community of Stornoway, they would get word only five and a half months after Murray’s death that Donald MacDonald was also killed on the canal.
The two cousins, who had sailed from the safe waters of Stornoway Bay to find new beginnings in Canada, were among 12 canal workers to lose their lives in 1925.
Few details are known about Murray’s accident. The only record is a newspaper article, published in the Standard on Feb. 2, 1925, that reported: “A deep sump hole had just been completed in Section 8 of the new Welland Canal near Humberstone, and Mr. Murray, who assisted in this work, was the last man up on the pump, when it tilted and he lost his hold.
“Falling to the bottom of the hole he sustained a broken back, broken arms and a broken skull. Death came after two hours of intense suffering.”
Murray was born April 22, 1901 and named after his father, a fisherman. His surviving family included his mother, Anabella, and a sister, both living in Stornoway, and three brothers, Donald in Humberstone, one in Australia and another serving in the British Army in India.
Murray’s funeral was held Monday, Jan. 26, 1925 and he is buried at the Overholt Cemetery in Port Colborne.
In their grief, his mother and family erected a beautiful gravestone at his plot. The inscription movingly concludes April 22, 1901 (Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland) Jan. 23, 1925 (Section 8, Humberstone (Port Colborne)) with a verse from the Song of Solomon: “Erected by his sorrowing mother and family. Until the day break and the shadows flee away.”
Still fresh in their memories was the day in 1923 when they gathered at the harbour to see off the two young cousins.
Stornowaywasaportatwhichmore goodbyes were exchanged between families than hellos. The local historical society’s website offers a glimpse of the times: “The departure from Stornoway of the Canadian Pacific liners Metagama, Canada and Marloch in 1923 and 1924 is still remembered by those who were children at the time for the emotional scenes at the harbour as they sailed away, tearing asunder many families.”
Much has changed for Stornoway harbour over the past 90 years.
According to the Stornoway Port Authority, “more than 95 per cent of all visitors to the Isle of Lewis travel through Stornoway,” and facilities at the harbour serve a number of industries including tourism, fishing, marine leisure and commercial shipping.
The hometown of Murdo Murray is now a gateway, a port of welcome to people from around the world. This article is part of a series highlighting the men whose lives were lost in the construction of the Welland Ship Canal. The Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial Task Force is a volunteer group established to finance, design and build a memorial to recognize workers who were killed while building the Welland Ship Canal. For more information about the Memorial or to contribute to the project visit: www.stcatharines. ca/CanalWorkersMemorial
They are a sometimes unseen labour force that helps power the country’s fruit, veggie and floral industry.
And temporary migrant workers are part of a complex social and economic system that can also seem to be underground.
In recent years — and as part of advanced academic studies — documentary director Aaraon Diaz Mendiburo has cast his lens on this group to shed more light about this world in Canadian farms.
“This is not just an economic issue where they come, work, get a lot of dollars and go back,” said Diaz Mendiburo, 46. “It’s very complex.”
“Migrants have to be recognized in their communities, they impact more than even agriculture,” he said. “We have to respect their rights and then help them … in Mexico, too.”
It’s also not just a Canadian matter, he adds, the fate of migrant agricultural workers is a global one.
On Sunday at 7 p.m., Diaz Mendiburo will join a screening of Matices at St. Alban’s Anglican Church at 4341 Ontario St. in Beamsville.
The 2011 film chronicles the lives of migrant workers in the country and showcases their experiences, from a former substandard workplace that was improved, to other decent ones.
In Ontario alone, at least 16,000 overseas workers come to farms, orchards and greenhouses as part of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program.
They come from Mexico, Jamaica and the Caribbean islands and have to apply through their home country’s ministry of labour.
The program itself is operated by the federal government and involves the governments of the country of origin.
Workers can be employed here up to eight months maximum in a year, with the money often vital to their livelihood and families back home.
Diaz Mendiburo said the documentary comes from his work with migrant workers that began a decade ago.
It is also “a tool” associated with his Master and doctorate, and now his post-doctorate research related to that sector. Diaz Mendiburo, who hails from Mexico’s Morelos province, has studied at that countries’ UNAM, the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
As part of his post-doctorate, he is currently doing a research internship at Wilfred Laurier University’s International Migration Research Centre.
“I thought it was very important to make a film to bring these issues to the Canadian communities, the (politicians) and migrant workers,” he said. “It gives different perspectives of the issues.”
Among the things filmed was farm with formerly-poor conditions in southwestern Ontario, and a far better farm on Pelee Island.
“One of the subjects of the documentary was the health conditions,” he said. “It showed the contrasts.”
Another issue is how migrants are treated in the communities, he said. To that end, he also spoke to activists supporting the workers. Filming was not done in Niagara, he adds.
“In Canada, there are a lot of people that support me,” said the documentary filmmaker, who is in St. Catharines for the short-term and plans a move to Toronto with his partner who is also doing Mexican-immigrant research.
Meanwhile, on deck with his postdocumentary studies is an examination of the workers’ emotional and sexual issues.
“They come for up to eight months? What happens to the sexuality,” he said of the workers who don’t come with their families.
“You don’t leave it in a box until the next season; you travel with your body,” he said. “It is difficult.”