"Canada wants cheaper groceries, stronger food production and resilient supply chains.
THIS IS ONLY POSSIBLE WITH THE LABOUR OF NEARLY 100,000 MIGRANT WORKERS WHO PLANT, HARVEST, AND PROCESS THAT FOOD.
For sixty years, migrants have kept rural, urban, and coastal economies running, paying taxes while being denied the social services, rights, dignity, and permanent status they deserve."
Sadly the Canadian Gov't did not keep its promise to reform the system of indentured, exploitive labour from migrant workers by granting STATUS FOR ALL.
From the Migrant Rights Network
"Sixty years ago - on March 31, 1966 - the federal government created a new immigration stream. It would eventually be called the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program, or SAWP.
With it, Canada legalized a new form of indentureship: the employer-restricted work permit.
Workers could come. But only allowed to work for one employer. Only for one season at a time.
SAWP started with workers from Jamaica. It grew to include other Caribbean countries, then Mexico. And in 1973, Canada took that same logic and expanded it to other sectors including care - creating the Non-Immigration Employment Authorization Program, which became the Temporary Foreign Worker Program that exists to this day.
But from the very beginning, workers fought back.
There have been wildcat strikes in Leamington, Ontario. Migrant farmworkers have raised their voices in Jamaica and Mexico after being deported. Injured workers have refused to be silenced."
SAWP was just the beginning.
Canada learned from it. It figured out how to keep workers restricted and rights-less - without tying them to a single employer. Today we have a sprawling system of so-called 'open' work permits, study permits, and humanitarian permits. All designed to separate migrants from their families. All making it harder to assert rights. All feeding a revolving door - where workers are extracted from, then expelled.
Now, migrants are being scapegoated for the affordability crisis. Blamed for high housing costs. Blamed for scarce jobs.
Status for All isn't just a migrant issue. It's the foundation of a just and resilient food system."
Please boost! 















