Thank you, and thank you very much to all of our witnesses today.
I particularly want to thank Gabriel and Gina for their very compelling testimony. I think what you can see from today's meeting is that the format of this review is very troubling. We have very little time to review a major program, the temporary foreign worker program. What we are certainly concerned about is that we don't have the proper ability to look at, in particular, the seasonal agricultural worker program, which we know has been rife with exploitation. In fact, we know from today the national attention that was given to the case of Sheldon McKenzie, who eventually died from his injuries sustained on the job in the Leamington area. We also know the example that my colleague brought up of Quebec, in the Drummondville area, where workers said they felt they were treated like donkeys and slaves. We have heard from Justicia and other organizations that have compared the seasonal agricultural worker program to an apartheid system.
There have been statements by the minister that the seasonal agricultural worker program is an important part of this review, yet unfortunately we haven't seen how in fact that is going to take place, given the limited amount of time that is being devoted to this review. We are also very concerned that today's deliberations, for example, where you are giving such powerful testimony, are not televised for other people to be able to hear from you and see you while you are telling us your stories.
I want to talk a bit about the experiences of exploitation you referred to. I know that one of the stories that have brought a lot of attention is the repatriation of migrant farm workers for health-related reasons: 787 migrant farm workers in Ontario were sent back, and the medical association report indicated that this obviously speaks to a level of neglect. I am wondering if you could comment on that, as well as on what steps we can take to protect migrant workers from exploitation and vulnerability more broadly.
Perhaps we can begin with you, Gabriel, and then go to Gina.