Dispute between Norfolk farmers and public health unit threatens food security

An ongoing battle over the safety of migrant farm workers in Norfolk County has the potential to disrupt Ontario's food supply.

Farmers say the local health unit's COVID-19 self-isolation rules - which are stricter than anywhere else in Ontario - have already led to labour shortages and crops languishing in the fields.

Public health officials argue that following less stringent federal safety guidelines is too risky since large-scale outbreaks on farms could strain a medical system already dealing with the highest rate of COVID-19 cases in Ontario.

Now the dispute is headed to arbitration.

At a May 25 hearing before the province's Health Services Appeal and Review Board, Brett Schuyler of Schuyler Farms Ltd. will argue that only allowing three migrant workers per bunkhouse during their mandatory self-isolation period hampers farmers' ability to bring in the skilled offshore labour needed to ensure a steady supply of food to Canadians.

The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit's Section 22 order also requires farmers to submit quarantine plans for approval before they can book their offshore workers' flights.

Norfolk is the only place in Canada that is doing this," said Schuyler, a Simcoe apple and cherry grower who normally employs more than 100 offshore workers.

The delay and uncertainty in approving isolation plans and the limitation of accommodations has reduced the number of workers able to travel to Norfolk County," he said.

Federal safety guidelines stipulate that migrant farm workers need to be able to stay two metres apart during their two weeks in quarantine. But the rules do not cap the occupancy of a bunkhouse that has been retrofitted to allow for physical distancing.

That the local health unit has imposed more onerous" restrictions on Norfolk farmers puts them at a disadvantage, says Andrea Plumb of Lerners Lawyers.

Our client, Schuyler Farms, has a bunkhouse that's as large as 4,400 square feet and he's limited to three workers in that bunkhouse," Plumb said.

You could have a farm in Norfolk County that's subjected to this order, with its obvious implications, and you could literally walk across the street to Elgin County (to) a farm that is not subjected to these restrictions and is therefore at a significant economic advantage."

Plumb seeks to have the Section 22 order rescinded, which she said would level the playing field for Norfolk farmers.

Our client completely accepts the federal and provincial guidelines addressing this issue and is more than prepared to abide by those guidelines, which have obviously been drafted with considerable thought," Plumb said.

Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, Haldimand-Norfolk's chief medical officer of health, defended the additional precautions as necessary to protect workers' health and the food supply.

Food is also a public health priority, and if the workers are disqualified because they're in self-isolation, that affects the agricultural enterprise and ultimately the food that is available," Nesathurai said.

He noted that Norfolk farms employ 4,500 offshore workers, more than any other county in Ontario, and their arrival represents a significant population increase for a county with 65,000 residents.

For people who return to Canada from a trip to another country, the advice is always to self-isolate alone," Nesathurai said.

Recognizing the challenges of agricultural enterprises, we had allowed for three people to self-isolate together. One of the reasons we want three in a group is we want to minimize the chances of people in that cohort getting sick."

He pointed to large-scale COVID-19 outbreaks among workers at a greenhouse in Chatham-Kent and a nursery in Kelowna, B.C., as well as inside meat processing plants in North America, as justification to proceed with caution in bunkhouses where workers share bathrooms, kitchens and common areas.

What we're really trying to do is not only advocate for the community overall, but also for migrant farm workers so they can serve their self-isolation period with the highest level of comfort and security," Nesathurai said.

And that ultimately will reduce the likelihood of people in bunkhouses getting sick and the potential for extended isolation."

Disconnect' between farmers and health unit

The order does not prevent farmers from putting up migrant workers off the farm during quarantine, such as in trailers or motel rooms. But Simcoe apple farmer Hayden Dooney says the health unit hasn't been receptive to scalable" housing solutions such as, for example, dividing a bunkhouse with multiple bathrooms that normally houses 40 workers into three separate areas.

That would allow for nine workers to quarantine in the same bunkhouse, rather than three.

A bit of flexibility, Dooney said, could allow farmers to safely bring in their usual workforce, rather than having to cut back workers or find pricey alternate accommodations.

The thing that irks me more than anything is that they won't discuss this," Dooney said.

Nesathurai said he's not comfortable asking a large number of migrant workers to spend every moment together during quarantine.

This is also a compassionate issue," he said. Theoretically, when farm workers come from another country, they are not part of the same family. They don't have previous relationships with each other, and they're going to have to remain in a close area with each other."

To Lynedoch vegetable farmer Jason Ryder, that reasoning shows Nesathurai's lack of understanding of the reality on many farms. The same migrant workers work on Ryder's farm year after year and are in touch with each other, and Ryder himself, all winter.

This is where the disconnect is between our industry and the chief medical officer of health," Ryder said.

My guys are very comfortable with each other. They're a family up here. If (Nesathurai) would've asked for advice, it's simple to lay that out. He's cut us off the team before he made a team."

That this dispute will be decided by a tribunal is a sign of how the relationship between the health unit and Norfolk farmers has deteriorated since the pandemic began.

Schuyler and fellow farmer Dusty Zamecnik are members of the county's agricultural advisory committee, but they say Nesathurai and other senior health unit officials have stopped talking with them.

I understand it's a pandemic that we've never dealt with before," Zamecnik said. I'm not trying to be, Oh, I'm a farmer, I deserve a blank cheque and all the rules to not apply to me.' But the rationale (for the added rules), we're not seeing it. It's not coming from sound logic."

Norfolk County CAO Jason Burgess pushed back against suggestions that farmers have been shut out of the process.

Those discussions were had," he said of accommodating more workers per bunkhouse.

One person can communicate and the other person has to be receptive to the answers. And in some cases, when they don't get the answer they want, then they say that (the health unit) isn't listening."

Burgess said that while Schuyler and other farmers are making an economic argument" against the tighter rules, his greater concern is what an outbreak on a farm could mean for the local health-care system.

In Norfolk and Haldimand combined, you have five ICU beds," he said. If you get a hot spot of 30 or 40 infections and 10 per cent of them need to go to hospital into ICU, that wipes out all our ICU capacity. It doesn't take much to swamp us."

Plumb pointed out that the county could lean on neighbouring urban centres for additional health-care resources should an outbreak happen.

Norfolk isn't going to be left to deal with this on its own," she said.

To date in Haldimand-Norfolk there have been three reported investigations of migrant workers with potential COVID-19 symptoms, but no confirmed cases. Farmers argue there is a greater health risk in using day labourers from Toronto or Hamilton who could unknowingly bring the virus onto the farm.

Forced to grow less food

Burgess said the county remains committed to the local agriculture industry.

My staff and the health unit are still trying to help the industry, and we're going to continue to help the industry going forward," he said. They're going to be a big part of our economic recovery plan."

In the short term, however, with most farmers missing a sizeable percentage of their offshore workforce, Ontario's top source for dozens of fruit and vegetable crops is poised to produce much less food.

There's not any farmer I talk to in the vegetable business, or in strawberries, who isn't growing less," Dooney said. Cuts anywhere from 20 per cent to 50 per cent."

Farmers are turning to students and day labourers to fill the gap, but migrant workers have specialized skills and are not easy to replace, Dooney added.

Schuyler said farms operate on thin margins as it is, and farmers are concerned about their financial viability in light of the pandemic. But he said that's not what is motivating his appeal.

I could care less about the economic consequences right now. It's about producing food for the country," he said. Food security is going to be a concern this year and is the story that will be talked about this summer when it is too late to set back the clock."

It might be early June before the appeal board renders a judgment. And while that will be too late for spring crops like asparagus, Schuyler says rescinding the health unit's order would have a tangible effect on the rest of the growing season.

There is still urgency. A lot of people are relying on this to go away in time for their crops," he said.

The sooner this gets dropped, the more food can be grown. I'm confident of that."

J.P. Antonacci's reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding allows him to report on stories about the regions of Haldimand and Norfolk.