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A confidential investigation into the deaths of three migrant farm workers from COVID-19 is recommending a public investigation.
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Ontario’s Office of the Chief Coroner “should consider calling an inquest” into the deaths last year of Bonifacio Eugenio Romero and Rogelio Munoz Santos, who worked in Essex County, and Juan Lopez Chaparro, who worked in Norfolk County, the office’s Deputy Chief Coroner Reuven Jhirad recommended in his report Tuesday.
An inquest is a public hearing conducted by a coroner and heard before a jury of five people from the community.
Thousands of migrant workers labouring on Canada’s farms in unsafe conditions amid deadly COVID-19 third wave
With the spring planting season well underway, tens of thousands of migrant workers have arrived on Canadian farms amid the coronavirus pandemic’s raging third wave. Last year, some 2,000 farmworkers caught COVID-19 and at least three died. The situation was so alarming that Mexico had to temporarily suspend travel for migrant workers to Canada.
Migrant workers, mainly from Mexico and the Caribbean, constitute a major part of Canada s farm workforce. (Credit: Migrant Workers Alliance for Change)
One year later, nothing has fundamentally changed in terms of protection for migrant workers. The meagre investment of $59 million announced last July by Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberal government served primarily to modestly increase inspections. In most cases, these result in no action against unscrupulous employers, and in a slap on the wrist for a handful of particularly
What It’s Actually Going To Take For Universal Child Care To Happen
The federal government is on board. But creating a new social program as big as this won t happen without the help of a social movement. Nora Loreto Updated
(Photo: iStock)
I’ve never purchased a car, but when I registered my 10-month old twins for daycare, I got the rush that must come with buying one. I got out my chequebook, calculated what $90 per day for a year would equal and then divided it by months. It was the instalment plan, but for babies.
Because I live in Quebec, once a spot was available at a publicly-funded daycare, the price dropped from $45 per day per child to just $7.30. It took two years for two public spots to open up, though it usually takes less time to find a spot for a single toddler. But while my kids were in private care, I received several thousand dollars back at tax time thanks to Quebec’s child care tax refunds. Not ideal, but better than in most places in
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HE PAST year of lockdowns and travel restrictions has been terrible for migrants. In the first six months of 2020 members of the
OECD, a club mainly of rich countries, issued half as many residence permits as they did the year before, a record decline. But one country is determined to buck the trend. In October Canada’s government said it hoped to admit 1.2m new residents from 2021 to 2023, equivalent to 3% of the population. The targets for this year and next are a total of 100,000 higher than originally planned.
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Even among high-immigration countries, Canada stands out. Australia has kept its annual immigration target steady at 160,000. Employers in New Zealand should give priority to training people already in the country, says its immigration minister. Canada, by contrast, is gung-ho. Immigration is “a key element” of Canada’s economic recovery and its long-term prosperity, says Marco Mendicino, the
ANALYSIS: The pandemic may spark agriculture shift to smarter farming lfpress.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lfpress.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.