Migrant worker’s death prompts calls for full and permanent immigration status
Working conditions of migrant farm workers have come into focus following the death of a migrant worker while operating heavy equipment at a southern Ontario farm.
The Ontario Ministry of Labour confirmed on Aug. 14 that it was notified of a fatality at a farm in Norfolk County, stating: "a temporary foreign worker was fatally injured while operating farm equipment."
The worker was identified by the Jamaican government and his Norfolk County employer.
"The Ministry of Labour and social security is expressing deep sadness at the passing of Mr. Garvin Yapp, a 57-year-old worker who participated in the ministry’s farm work programme in Canada,” the Jamaican ministry said in a media release.
It goes on to say that Yapp had been travelling to work on farms in Canada for 35 years, and he was held in such high esteem that his employer would vacation at Yapp’s home on his visits to Jamaica.
His employer, the VanBerlo family declined an interview, sending a statement instead through their lawyer.
"The VanBerlo's did not lose an employee. They lost a person they considered a member of their family. Their relationship with Garvin was forged over 34 years of employment at their family farm. Accordingly, they are devastated by his death,” the lawyer’s statement read.
The emailed statement from the lawyer said the family has cooperated fully with the investigation undertaken by the Ministry of Labour and awaits the outcome of the coroner's analysis into the cause of death.
“The VanBerlo’s extend their profound and heartfelt condolences to Garvin’s family in Canada and Jamaica.
ADVOCATES SPEAK TO MIGRANT WORKER'S CONDITIONS
Advocates are arguing the system that governs migrant worker’s employment in Canada is broken and needs to be revamped to ensure there are no more preventable deaths.
“We do not know if his family will receive any compensation,” said Syed Hussan, executive director at Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.
The organization said this is just one of a dozen migrant worker deaths in Canada they are aware of this year.
“People are literally dying for your food,” said Hussan.
The organization points to the death as proof the foreign worker system needs to be overhauled, arguing workers need to receive full and permanent immigration status.
“Human beings are being treated like machines,” said Hussan.
The cause of the farming equipment crash which led to Yapp's death is unknown at this point.
"The migrant farm worker program is effectively a human rights catastrophe," said Hussan. "Every day we hear about injuries. Every month we hear about deaths. There have been three deaths that we know of just in the last week."
The Ontario Ministry Of Labour says their investigation is ongoing.
The Jamaican Ministry Of Labour said they are in contact with Yapp's family offering 'psycho-social and other support.'
The Jamaican labour minister is touring farms in Canada this week.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.