NDP flags hurdle in virus tests for migrant workers

TORONTO Hundreds of migrant workers have been tested for COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex, an Ontario region dealing with outbreaks on farms, Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday, but critics cautioned that fear of deportation could keep thousands more from getting tested.

Ford said the province could not force migrant workers to take the tests, but added that the reception among both workers and farmers had been positive. “So far we’ve tested 724 workers, we put a testing unit right in the heart of the community,” Ford said.

But with as many as 8,000 migrant workers in Windsor-Essex, and 20,000 working across the province each year, some people are calling for mandatory testing.

Dozens of migrant workers in the Windsor-Essex region have tested positive for COVID-19 and two have died. Nine farms have active outbreaks of the virus.

There has to be a guarantee put in place that they’re not going to be deported ...

Outbreaks have also been reported in Chatham-Kent and Haldimand-Norfolk, where dozens of workers have tested positive.

The province’s labour minister says Ontario has inspected approximately 200 farms and issued 60 orders to improve safety.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she wouldn’t blame migrant workers if they were wary of getting tested, saying they find themselves in a precarious position.

“These folks are literally at risk of being deported if they are not able to provide the labour that they are supposed to be providing to the farm,” she said.

“So that’s one huge deterrent, so there has to be a guarantee put in place that they’re not going to be deported and that their health and well-being is going to be looked after and that they’re going to be able to isolate.”