Local MP calls for government action to stop undocumented workers on farms

A local MP is calling for action to stop the practice of bringing in undocumented migrant workers to satisfy the labour needs on farms and greenhouses.

Dave Epp, Conservative MP for Chatham-KentLeamingtonbelieves these workers areplaying a key role in the spread of the coronavirusin Leamington and Kingsville. Those regions have been held back by the province from moving into Stage 2 of reopening due to the high rates of the disease.

While there are protocols for living conditions under Canada'sTemporary Foreign Worker program, Eppsays the same rule book is not being used for those brought into the countryunder the table.

"There'sbeen use of labour contractors in the industry," he said."There's some good ones out there, but there are also those that are less than scrupulous, that are using sources of laboursome of them being undocumentedand they would come from various sources, but they've not gone through the 14 day quarantine process. They've not had the same oversight and housing conditions. They don't have the same access to health care, and that needs to change."

There have been roughly 700 COVID-19 cases in farm workers in Essex County, and two temporary foreign workers from Mexico died in Canada after testing positive for the disease.

"The integrity of this program is threatenedbythe use ofundocumented workersunscrupulously employed bylabourrecruiting agencies," Epp wrote in a statement to federal government officials Friday.

"It appearsthat this practice ofcontractlabouris the primary vector for COVID-19 infectionsinto the legitimate Temporary Foreign Worker community."

Worker advocate groups estimate there are roughly 2,000undocumented foreign workers in Windsor-Essex.

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