Owner of farm hit by outbreak says he followed guidelines,
One migrant worker on the farm died, 199 contracted COVID-19
The owner of a farm where some 199 migrant workers have tested positive for COVID-19 says his operation assiduously followed public health guidelines to prevent an outbreak, and has previously been lauded for providing quality accommodation to migrant workers.
In an interview with the Star on Tuesday, Scotlynn Growers president Scott Biddle said the local health department has “always used us as an example for what other farmers should be doing.”
“We’re building housing for another hundred men this year,” Biddle told the Star, adding that the new accommodation will be larger than what’s currently required by Health Canada to account for any changes to federally-mandated housing standards.
The comments come after a Star investigation revealed a history of complaints at Scotlynn by Mexican migrant workers about substandard housing and other concerns.
In reports to the Mexican Ministry of Labour between 2016 and 2018, workers described overcrowded bunkhouses, bedbug infestations, and sometimes failure to receive timely medical attention.
Scotlynn received 33 complaints over the two year period, the highest number of any Canadian farm. Biddle said he brought 260 workers to Canada this year, and the majority of the 199 diagnosed with COVID-19 have recovered.
On Saturday, 55-year-old father of four Juan Lopez Chaparro, who worked at Scotlynn, died after fighting COVID-19 for three weeks.
Scotlynn’s isolation plan submitted to the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit identified six bunkhouse locations. Biddle did not answer the Star’s questions on how many workers currently share each unit,
“It really depends on the size of the housing,” he said.
Biddle told the Star he provides climate-controlled housing with lounge areas and soccer fields for leisure time. He said the facilities had been built “within the last 10 years or so.”
“With as many workers as we have, there’s always going to be a few distraught workers,” he said of the past complaints. “Not every review can be perfect.”
Biddle said that this season, after workers arrived from Mexico, they quarantined in individual hotel rooms for two weeks, at a cost of $700,000 to Scotlynn. Now in their bunkhouses, Biddle said workers are being transported by bus to do weekly groceries and that social distancing measures are being observed.
Scotlynn, a multimillion dollar farm, describes itself as “North America’s Farm Stand.” The company also runs a transportation company with networks throughout the United States.
In a presentation on Monday to the federal government’s Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA), worker advocates said existing regulations governing the country’s migrant worker program — including housing — are not fit for purpose.
Syed Hussan, executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC), told the Star the outbreak at Scotlynn is proof “the entire system is broken.”
“We’ve been saying inspections aren’t good enough because inspections hold up existing laws,” he said. “And existing laws don’t uphold dignity.”
The federal and provincial governments have said they would ramp up inspections, in the face of hundreds of migrant workers across Canada being diagnosed with COVID-19.
A report compiled by MWAC detailed numerous complaints from workers that Scotlynn did not provide adequate protection as the outbreak unfolded.
The organization’s presentation to the parliamentary committee said seasonal agricultural workers need full immigration status in Canada to “be able to leave dangerous conditions and protect themselves and their families.”
“It’s the only effective solution to deal with the power imbalance,” Hussan said.
Currently, migrant workers who come to Canada through the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program on a tied work permit — meaning their right to be in the county is dependent on eight-month annual contracts with a single employer. Workers cannot gain permanent residency in Canada through the program.
A 2015 study by Western University law professor Michael Lynk said migrant farm workers struggled to exercise their basic right to leave an abusive workplace, and said their precarious immigration status means they can be dismissed and repatriated to their home countries if they complain.
The following year, a report by HUMA noted that providing permanent residency to seasonal agricultural workers was one solution to this issue.
Last year, the federal government announced an initiative to give migrant caregivers a pathway to permanent residency in Canada as well as a new pilot program to allow a limited number of other temporary foreign workers to gain permanent residency.
But seasonal agricultural workers don’t meet the pilot’s eligibility criteria because it requires at least 12 months of prior continuous work in the country.
Hussan said his organization will be speaking to federal Ministers of Immigration and Employment this week to push for change.
Biddle said he is saddened by the loss of life on his farm, and said Lopez Chaparro’s nephew, who also works at Scotlynn, will be flown home to spend time with family. He added that, upon the worker’s request, he will return in August to continue working.
“These guys, they’re front-line workers, they’re out there working in the fields, providing food for all of us in Canada, and putting their lives at risk. I mean, it’s, it’s very unfortunate what happened to us,” Biddle said.
Two workers interviewed by the Star said they felt the outbreak was hastened by the farm’s slow response. They said they were not provided protective gear when they started work after quarantine.
Biddle said his farm has always provided sick workers with swift medical attention.
This year, as migrant workers began to fall ill, Scotlynn posted a call for local workers to work the fields at $25 an hour. Grow Canada also helped recruit local workers for the farm; documents obtained the Star show those workers were instructed to bring their own protective face masks and hand sanitizer.
Biddle said migrant workers were adequately provided with PPE, and that locals who he recruited who did not bring their own gear were provided with protection — although the Grow Canada labourers never made it into the fields because the crop had already spoiled.
Biddle said he could not comment on whether or not migrant workers should have permanent status in Canada, but said it “should never be a concern for them to voice their opinion.”
“We’ve never sent a worker back for voicing his opinion,” he said.