Farm worker problems being dealt with, says West Kelowna council

Complaints about poor housing for farm workers, and resulting social problems, are being addressed by West Kelowna city councillors.

Council heard this week from Collin Crabbe, a resident who said his rural neighbourhood was plagued by crime that stems in part from what he said were the “terrible” living conditions to which seasonal farm workers were subjected.

The farm worker housing, Crabbe said, is often unsanitary and overcrowded, with as many as 11 people living in a 500-square-foot dwelling.

As well, drug use has “infested our great community,” Crabbe said, with some people afraid to walk the streets and others contemplating selling their homes and moving away.

“You’ve been heard,” Coun. Rick De Jong told Crabbe, after council directed staff to prepare a report on what can be done to address the problems, which centre in the Scharf Road area between Westbank and Glenrosa.

“I appreciate you bringing this to the forefront so we can get something done about this,” Coun. Rusty Ensign told Crabbe.

City administrator Jim Zaffino said efforts were already underway among city officials, RCMP and other government agencies to devise solutions to the problems cited by Crabbe.

“We haven’t ignored this issue,” Zaffino said. “We’ve been giving it a priority.”

On Aug. 6, a naked female farm worker tried to force herself into the Crabbe family home.

“My wife was the victim of a violent breakand-enter and assault,” Crabbe told council. “She had to lock our four-year-old and our nine-year-old in the bedroom, and was forced to fight the attacker to prevent her from gaining access to our house.”

Police later arrested a 24-year-old Brazilian woman after finding her hiding in a shed.

Crabbe told council he believed the woman’s actions stemmed from buying tainted drugs from a local drug dealer.