Page - 410 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

VULNERABLE410 During the COVID-19 pandemic, many migrant workers have come to shoulder the responsibility of providing essential goods and ser- vices to Canadians, ranging from maintaining the food supply to caregiving.8 This puts them and their families at greater risk of being exposed to the virus. Above all, farms and food-processing facilities have emerged as hotbeds of COVID-19 transmission for migrants.9 Cargill’s meat plant in Alberta alone, where a majority of the employ- ees were foreign-born, was linked to over 1,500 COVID-19 cases, mak- ing it the largest outbreak to date in North America attributable to a workplace.10 To the extent that the danger of working during the pan- demic can be mitigated by taking appropriate protective measures, migrants’ ability to do so is significantly curtailed. In many industries with a concentration of migrant workers, physical distancing is not readily observable: migrants frequently work in cramped space, and some must live in close quarters provided by employers.11 Inadequate screening protocols and a lack of personal protective equipment at these workplaces further enable the virus’s spread.12 Compounding 8. Zhenzhen Ye, “Maintaining Food Security During the Coronavirus Pandemic Means Looking After the Health of Migrant Workers”, National Post (7 April 2020), online: <nationalpost.com/opinion/zhenzhen-ye-on-covid-19-maintaining-food- security-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-means-looking-after-the-health-of- migrant-workers>; Verity Stevenson & Benjamin Shingler, “Quebec Relies on Hundreds of Asylum Seekers in Long-Term Care’s Battle Against COVID-19”, CBC News (8 May 2020), online: <www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-chsld- asylum-seekers-1.5559354>. 9. See Sarah Berger Richardson, this volume, Chapter E-5; see also Jenna Hennebry, “Canada Jeopardizes Migrant Workers Amid Pandemic”, Cornwall Standard Freeholder (6 June 2020) A7; Omar Mosleh, “Dealing With a Precarious Present for a Stable Future: Despite Virus’s Looming Threat, Immigrants Say They Must Keep Working to Support Their Families”, Toronto Star (5 May 2020) B1. 10. Joel Dryden & Sarah Rieger, “Inside the Slaughterhouse”, CBC News (6 May 2020), online: <newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/cargill-covid19-outbreak>. 11. See e.g. Mosleh, supra note 9; Sara Mojtehedzadeh, “Migrant Farm Workers from Jamaica Are Being Forced to Sign COVID-19 Waivers”, Toronto Star (13 April 2020), online: <www.thestar.com/business/2020/04/13/migrant-farm- workers-fear-exposure-to-covid-19.html>. 12. Carrie Tait, Kathryn Blaze Baum & Tavia Grant, “Unions Question Worker Safety as Cargill Reopens Plant at Centre of COVID-19 Outbreak”, The  Globe  and  Mail  (5 May 2020), online: <www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-union-ques- tions-worker-safety-as-cargill-reopens-plant-at-centre-of/>; Ethel Tungohan, “Filipino Healthcare Workers During COVID-19 and the Importance of Race-Based Analysis” (1 May 2020), online (blog): The  Broadbent  Blog <www.broadbentin- stitute.ca/filipino_healthcare_workers_during_covid19_and_the_importance_ of_race_based_analysis>.