Frustration is growing for the Windsor-Essex agriculture sector as negative perceptions around migrant workers and COVID linger. “These workers did everything that was asked of them,” said Joseph Sbrocchi, executive director and general manager of Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG). The vast majority of Temporary Foreign Agriculture Workers (TFAWs) in Ontario are double or triple […] Read more
Tag Archives COVID-19
Migrant workers under social microscope
A recent ban on the workers hasn’t helped with community relations, say farm representatives
Pandemic border protests strand cattle and car parts
Ottawa | Reuters — Protests in Canada against vaccine mandates have disrupted two key U.S. border crossings, and are snarling hundreds of millions of dollars daily of trade, ranging from cattle to car parts. Demonstrations who at first demanded an end to federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers began Jan. 28 in the […] Read more
Pandemic protestors block Windsor border crossing
Commercial traffic being diverted to Sarnia
Ottawa | Reuters — The busiest land crossing between the U.S. and Canada was jammed on Tuesday after Canadian protestors blocked lanes on Monday over their government’s pandemic control measures. While traffic in both directions was initially blocked, U.S.-bound lanes have since reopened, Windsor Police tweeted. Drivers demanding an end to federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates […] Read more
Editorial: Worker safety and food security a balancing act
Will growers who rely on the labour of Temporary Foreign Agricultural Workers (TFAWs) face yet another season of uncertainty due to COVID-19 housing and quarantine rules? It certainly looked that way in mid-January when Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, the acting Medical Officer of Health (MOH) for Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) issued a letter stating no […] Read more
Behind the short-lived Windsor-Essex foreign worker ban
Foreign agriculture workers were being tested at a much higher rate than the rest of the community, which inflated the numbers
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) rescinded its order limiting the arrival of temporary foreign agricultural workers within three days of issuance after the province stepped in to say it was unconstitutional. Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, acting Medical Officer of Health for WECHU, issued a letter of instruction Jan. 12 that paused the arrival of incoming […] Read more
Pork industry looks ahead from turbulent 2021
Pork prices expected to stay elevated in 2022
MarketsFarm — Labour shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, high feed costs and lower prices posed constant threats to Canada’s hog industry in 2021. Nevertheless, pork appears to be in a good spot entering 2022, according to two analysts. “2021 was not the best, but not the worst,” said Tyler Fulton, director of risk management […] Read more
Canada rules out use of troops against truck blockade
More protests planned
Ottawa | Reuters — The Canadian government will not use troops against protestors whose nearly week-long demonstration against coronavirus vaccine mandates has brought traffic in central Ottawa to a halt, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday. More than 200 trucks and other vehicles have been blockading downtown roads in the nation’s capital since last Friday […] Read more
Province giving HEPA filters to employers with workers in congregate living settings
The Ontario government is distributing up to 5,500 free HEPA filters to improve ventilation in agri-food congregate living settings. The province said in a release the filters will add an additional layer of protection to keep agri-food workers safe and reduce the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks on farms and in workplaces across the food supply […] Read more
Single lanes opened at Alberta border crossing, Mounties say
RCMP 'acknowledges the work that is being done'
Single lanes have reopened in each direction at Alberta’s busiest Canada-U.S. trade window, allowing cross-border supply chains to resume, RCMP report. In response to “concerned citizens in the area of Coutts,” participants in a blockade of vehicles in place at the local border crossing “made the decision to open a lane going northbound and southbound […] Read more
Alberta RCMP to start unclogging major border crossing
Blockade 'not a peaceful assembly,' Mounties say
A major supply chain corridor connecting Alberta and the U.S. is expected to be cleared of protestors and reopened to traffic on Tuesday, Alberta RCMP have warned. Protestors in vehicles formed a blockade Saturday on Highway 4 leading to the province’s only 24-hour Canada-U.S. border crossing, at Coutts, Alta., about 100 km southeast of Lethbridge. […] Read more
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