When Sheldon Mackenzie, a migrant farm worker from Jamaica, got a serious head injury on the job, Canada tried to cut off his health care and send him back to his country without treatment. Mackenzie had worked on farms in Canada for 12 years at the time of his injury and would go on to die of his injuries. It is only because of his cousin's legal pressure to protect him that he continued to have health care until the time of his death. Many migrant workers are not so lucky.
This horrible practice highlights the awful treatment of migrant farm workers in this country. When migrant workers are hurt on the job they lose their work visa and thus their access to health care. Often, working conditions are very poor and workers are forced to work long hours without overtime.
Migrant workers, who contribute greatly to the Canadian economy should have protection when they are injured. Canada must stop treating migrant farm workers as disposable goods and offer greater protection in the case of injury.
Sign now to protect migrant farm workers. By signing today you are helping to challenge the degrading system that treats workers like Sheldon Mackenzie as disposable goods.
To the Honourable MaryAnn Mihychuk,
As someone who cares deeply for the human rights of all people I urge you to create better protections for migrant farm workers in Canada.
The current policy of cutting off the work visas and, thus the health care, and shipping injured workers back to their home country without treatment is cruel and unjust. These workers work very hard for the farming industry and contribute greatly to the Canadian economy. They are human being who deserve to be treated justly.
New regulations must pass to:
- stop the ejection from the country of injured migrant farm workers
- stop the practice of cutting off of health care coverage of migrant farm workers
- offer health care appropriate to the injury of migrant farm workers
These workers pay into a tax system that funds their expulsion from the country if they are injured in their high risk positions growing food for the rest of the country.
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Sincerely,
[Your Name]
