Farm not required to provide masks to workers
Rights group says federal government should give workers protective items
A St. Catharines greenhouse coping with a COVID-19 outbreak that has sickened about half of its migrant workforce was not obligated under provincial or federal regulations to provide masks and other protective equipment that may limit the spread of the potentially lethal virus.
While there are federal regulations that prescribe what farm operators must do when workers arrive in Canada — including providing adequate living space to isolate sick workers — and recent provincial guidance suggests the use of masks if physical distancing is difficult, there was nothing to compel Pioneer Flower Farms to provide equipment to its workers prior to the outbreak.
“The provincial guidance is not binding and it says the employer ‘may’ want to use masks,” said Dr. Mustafa Hirji, Niagara’s acting medical officer of health, who has ordered the farm to use masks since the outbreak was declared Sunday.
At least 60 people connected to the farm have been infected, 59 of them being workers and one is a person who spent a great deal of time at the farm, said Hirji.
The greenhouse employees live and work in close quarters. Hirji compared the situation to cruise ships which had COVID-19 outbreaks early in the pandemic.
Meanwhile, a migrant workers rights group said workers at the Pioneer farm would have used masks if they had the option.
“They didn’t have the choice,” said Kit Andres of the Migrant Workers Alliance, who said it had been speaking to Pioneer employees since the outbreak was declared. “And what we are saying is that is something that shouldn’t fall on the employer. That should fall on the federal government to provide that equipment.”
An unnamed spokesperson from Pioneer Flower Farms, answering questions on the farm’s official Facebook page, declined to say if the farm provided masks to greenhouse workers prior to the outbreak.
The spokesperson said the farm has “implemented every recommendation by the province from the beginning,” and is following the lead of Niagara’s
public health department, including encouraging employees to wear “the safety gear” on or off the farm.
“What’s on the recommendation list,” the spokesperson said when asked several times if the farm provided masks to employees.
Hirji said the first worker infected appears to have contracted the virus off the farm. The virus spread rapidly through Pioneer’s workforce. Public health has been working with the farm to ensure sick workers are housed together while they recover.
Hirji said he is awaiting test results for some Pioneer employees, but he is not expecting those tests will show another surge in COVID-19 cases.
“That said, I won’t say we won’t see more cases,” Hirji said. “We want to wait the full two weeks to see if there are more cases or not.”
There was only one new COVID-19 case confirmed in the region Thursday, Hirji said. It was a resident at Garden City Manor in St. Catharines, where an outbreak has been declared.
Federal rules require temporary foreign workers to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival in Canada, and farms must ensure they have appropriate living quarters that will allow for isolation. A worker who shows any COVID-19 symptoms must be immediately isolated.
“Failing to comply with the new employer compliance conditions could result in a range of penalties, including monetary penalties of up to $1 million and bans from hiring foreign workers, up to a permanent ban, depending on the seriousness of the situation,” said Marielle Hossack, spokesperson for Carla Qualtrough, the federal minister of employment. “These regulations support public health across Canada, as well as the health and safety of foreign workers.”
Andres of the workers alliance said because migrant labourers can only stay in Canada if they are working on a farm, they fear they could lose their jobs if they become ill and therefore they may not disclose symptoms to their employer. In a Facebook post Sunday, Pioneer said it is paying the salaries of the workers while they are in isolation recovering from COVID-19.