FARM WORKERS A `LOOMING CRISIS'

At least 600 temporary foreign workers have arrived in Essex County in the last week for the new greenhouse growing season, and 2,000 more are expected in the next several weeks.

But no one is ensuring that they follow the mandatory 14-day quarantine, says Leamington Mayor Hilda Macdonald.

And farmers who employ migrant workers are urging the federal government to waive the requirement for a negative COVID-19 test result before the workers fly to Canada, according to a Canadian Press report.

Farmers say the tests cost too much in some countries.

With the high number of COVID-19 cases here and thousands of workers arriving, Macdonald, Kingsville Mayor Nelson Santos and Essex County Warden Gary Mcnamara warned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford in a letter Tuesday of a “looming crisis.”

Macdonald has received calls from residents saying they've seen migrant workers congregating outside hotels where they're supposed to be quarantining.

The Ontario Provincial Police are responsible for enforcing the quarantine in Leamington, said Windsor-tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk, the only government MP in this region.

“The police don't have the manpower to handle this,” countered Macdonald.

The town's council voted last year to end its contract with the OPP because it couldn't get enough officers.

Local police also don't know who is quarantining where, “so it's difficult to check,” she said.

The federal government operates the Temporary Foreign Worker program and imposed the 14-day quarantine.

“For crying out loud, follow through with it,” said Macdonald.

“Don't leave it to municipalities.”

The government needs to ensure not only that the workers are quarantining but that they have food and anything else they need so they're able to quarantine, she said.

“Someone has to be accountable, and no one seems to want to be accountable,” she said.

The health-care system here is nearing capacity, the mayors and warden wrote, and more than 20 per cent of new COVID-19 cases are from the agricultural sector.

There are 11 farm outbreaks in Leamington and Kingsville, according to the Windsor-essex County Health Unit. There are 57 active cases, 104 workers isolating in hotels and 255 resolved cases.

Hundreds of migrant farm workers here were infected in the first wave, and two died.

Workers who don't quarantine and interact with the community could unknowingly infect others or be infected by others, said Macdonald. If they carry the infection to a farm after the 14 days are over, they could infect other workers, including those who live here.

“The tentacles reach out into the community,” she said.

The letter also states that Service Canada is only conducting virtual inspections of the housing used for quarantining, “with no boots on the ground follow-through.”

Initial inspections are conducted virtually, Kusmierczyk confirmed. But anyone can call a tip line, complete a form online or email Service Canada to report a problem, he said, and that can trigger an on-site inspection.

But it's not clear how a migrant farm worker — who has just arrived, can't speak English, doesn't know he has recourse and needs his job — could do that.

The biggest challenge, say the mayors and warden, is that there are so many government ministries, departments and agencies that have jurisdiction over different aspects of the workers.

“It's like an onion,” said Macdonald. “There are all these layers.”

When local officials try to address a problem, they're told, “that's not our jurisdiction,” she said.

Undocumented workers — there are believed to be about 2,000 — are the responsibility of the federal government. But when they start working, they fall under provincial labour legislation. And if they're housed in substandard accommodations, that is subject to municipal bylaws.

These workers are vulnerable to abuse, and they can also carry the virus to multiple farms, Macdonald said.

“That's something we're going to have to tackle,” she said.

The mayors and warden called on senior governments to address this complicated jurisdictional hierarchy “to prevent loss of life and tragic COVID-19 impacts on the greater community.”

Kusmierczyk, who met with local political leaders plus

Erie Shores Healthcare and Essex-windsor EMS last week and has raised their concerns with government officials, agreed that “it is incredibly complex.”

“It's something we are looking at,” he said.

But all these concerns were issues in the pandemic's first wave. “All this talk we have had, and there are still things a year later that have giant gaps,” said Macdonald. “We should have this under control.

“We're at a loss,” she said.

Most farm owners and workers try to “do the right thing,” the letter states.

“However, it only takes a few abusing the system in a pandemic that leads to illness and death,” it states. “Proper monitoring and enforcement are necessary, and government must ensure the public interest when industry is unable or unwilling to address the few players that refuse to abide by legislation.”

The premier's spokesperson, Ivana Yelich, responded to the letter, writing, “We have worked very closely with federal and local authorities to ensure there is a coordinated response when it comes to controlling the spread of COVID-19 on farms.”

The province released new “guiding principles and actions” in November to prevent virus spread and protect workers and the food supply.