Abused Barbadian farm workers cheated by Canadian Government program

[JohnyCanuck]

The Canadian Seasonal Agriculture Workers Program was put in place by Canada for one reason: farm and agriculture jobs pay so little in Canada that there are not enough Canadians willing to take the employment. Canadian agriculture therefore relies on hardworking folks from Barbados, the Caribbean and Mexico who leave their homes, family and friends to work temporarily on Canadian farms.

It seems to me that the Canadian Government should be responsible to protect the workers, and to ensure that the farms and agricultural businesses that participate in the government program are viable.

Migrant farm work is a hard and lonely life, but workers travel to Canada because they must to provide for themselves and their families.

And then they get cheated…

TORONTO–(Marketwire – Nov. 24, 2010) -

More than 130 migrant agriculture workers from Mexico and the Caribbean have gone home cheated of thousands of dollars after the Ontario farm operation they worked at filed an intention to obtain creditor protection. Workers had not been paid since early November after the owner departed for California. He has yet to return.

The workers from Mexico, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad were employed at the Ghesquiere Plant Farm near Simcoe, Ontario. They were contracted to Ghesquiere under the federal government’s Canadian Seasonal Agriculture Workers Program (CSAWP).

http://barbadosfreepress.wordpress.com/2010/11/24/abused-barbadian-farm-workers-cheated-by-canadian-government-program/

[polly7]

1. This is so sad. I hope they can get representation and the money

they're owed.
Our Federal gov't is sure going all to h*.