We have members who've been coming into the seasonal agriculture program for 35-plus years. They've come every year for 35 years. They are not temporary workers. They've spent more than the majority of their lives here. They want to be here with their families. At the least, they want to be able to change bad jobs. At the least, they want their families to be able to visit with them. At the least, they want to be able to not actually live in employer-provided housing, which is completely inhumane, by and large.
Not just that, but they have no say in the writing of the contracts that are state to state. Most agricultural workers across the different provinces are exempt from labour protections: minimum wage, overtime pay and ability to unionize. To call this a choice is a complete misrepresentation of what is actually happening, which is maximum exploitation of people.
What we are calling for is that those people should be able to come here with permanent resident status. Those who are here already should be given permanent resident status. They deserve that and much more.
As one example, just in Ontario, agricultural workers paid over $385 million into EI and did not take a cent back last year. They are actually paying into the system. Canada needs to actually compensate people by giving them permanent residency. That is the absolute minimum that can be done—