Eleven Guatemalan foreign workers, and eight others must emulate them these days, returned to their country after their rights were violated by a dishonest employer.
Recruited under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), administered by the federal government, these Guatemalans had not been paid for several months by their employer, Jean Lemay, who operates a farm in Saint-Jude, in Montérégie. These are not seasonal workers, but agricultural workers who are contracted for a longer period.
As reported The duty in a series of articles, the Quebec producer Jean Lemay became this fall the first Quebec employer banned for life from the TFWP by the federal authority in the matter, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). This ministry refused to reveal the reasons which led to this decision, but, according to an organization of defense of the rights, the Network of assistance to the workers and migrant agricultural workers of Quebec (RATTMAQ), the ban imposed on the employer is explained by an outbreak of COVID-19, by a break in quarantine and by the fact that Jean Lemay hired labor to other farmers, which he could not do without holding a permit .
While ESDC administers the program, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issues temporary work permits. The Government of Quebec is involved through the Commission des normes, de l’énergie, de la santé et de la sécurité au travail (CNESST). In this case, no less than five entities carried out searches, including the CNESST, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Sûreté du Québec.
This agricultural producer has a criminal record and was the subject of complaints in 2012 and then in 2015. Nine years is the time it took for him to crack down.
If this lifetime ban is unique, do not believe that the abuses suffered by these foreign workers are extremely rare. In July 2020, the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse denounced the perverse effects of the program: workers are bound by closed work permits and can hardly change employers in the event of a problem.
These foreign workers are often little or not aware of their rights. Employers can take this opportunity to avoid reporting work accidents that involve these workers. Or they may not renew the contract of an injured employee, even if Quebec law stipulates that an employer cannot dismiss a worker because he has suffered an employment injury. Even informed of their rights, many of these workers hesitate to exercise them because of the risk they run of being returned to their country by their employer.
Housing conditions are also a problem. Since it is the employer who provides housing for these agricultural workers, not only are these workers linked to their employer, but they must also be content with the accommodation provided to them on the spot. Last July, a group of Guatemalan workers addressed the media to complain about the accommodation conditions reserved for them by their employer, Productions horticoles Demers. At first, the president of the company, Jacques Demers, limited himself to saying that his housing met government standards, which inspection reports carried out a few months earlier confirmed, Radio-Canada reported. Then he saw the light. Realizing the damage he was inflicting on his company’s brand, he renovated his homes.
In the event of a problem, the various administrations concerned pass the buck to each other. If it was concerned about efficiency, especially concerned about the fate of this proletariat, Ottawa should agree to hand over the reins of the program to Quebec. This is what the Legault government is trying to negotiate. The agreement reached this year between the two levels of government affecting certain low-skilled or unskilled jobs is a step in this direction.
In Quebec, the number of temporary foreign workers has doubled in five years. Whether in agriculture or in other sectors, it is bound to increase. The Legault government sees it as a way to counter labor shortages. However, despite certain improvements recently made by Minister Jean Boulet, these workers linked to a single employer are still vulnerable, as demonstrated by the behavior of the banned agricultural producer. The system leads to abuse: it must change.