Page - 402 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

VULNERABLE402 except U.S. citizens, even though data now shows a large number of travellers infected with COVID-19 were American as opposed to Asian.42 Did Canada contemplate the effect border closures would have on the public’s fears? Public health researchers recognize that “[f]ear is further fuelled when infection control techniques and restrictive practices such as quarantine and isolation are employed to protect the public’s health.”43 The partial closure of the border is a continuation of the practice of “selective inclusion,” allowing racialized labour to work in essential services (albeit in problematic conditions) while calming the fears and anxiety of a public that views Asians as a disease. While there is not a complete border shutdown and the mea- sures do not directly prohibit the entry of Asians, the exclusions still may serve no other function but to pacify fear and anxiety of people in Canada while allowing useful Asians in. By closing off the border to the non-essential, the government may have reinforced narratives that foreigners, specifically Asians, are the source of the virus and that we should keep them out. Essential Migrant Labour in a Pandemic What is striking is that essential work in health care, food processing, and agriculture is largely being done by racialized migrant workers, including asylum seekers.44 Outbreaks in these environments have been blamed on them: for example, Filipino workers in meat-packing plants and long-term care facilities. In both of these examples, Asian migrant workers are cast as carriers of the disease, further perpetuat- ing narratives of the yellow peril. Some news coverage has pointed to crowded living and working conditions, the lack of safety equip- ment, and the fact that health care workers in long-term care facilities 42. Ryan Tumility, “Canada’s Early COVID-19 Cases from the U.S. not China, Provincial Data Shows”, National Post (30 April 2020), online: <nationalpost. com/news/politics/canadas-early-covid-19-cases-came-from-the-u-s-not-china- provincial-data-shows>. 43. Person et al, supra note 1 at 358. 44. Verity Stevenson & Benjamin Shingler, “Quebec Relies on Hundreds of Asylum Seekers in Long-Term Care Battle Against COVID-19”, CBC News (8 May 2020), online: <www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-chsld-asylum-seekers- 1.5559354?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar>; Yves Boisvert, “Il s’appelait Marcelin Francois”, La Presse (8 May 2020), online: <plus.lapresse.ca/screens/3c5f9503- 455d-479e-9b25-72fa1b1944c8__7C___0.html?utm_medium=Twitter&utm_ campaign=Microsite+Share&utm_content=Screen>.